Gray
by Megera22
Summary: Meric, a Mandalorian bounty hunter, is on contract to take out a difficult target found on Voss. Little does he expect that his target is a Force User who survived Order Sixty-Six. She turns out to be a bigger job than he realized but eventually finds a friendship building between him and this Chiss woman. What does the future have in store for him? (Some Mild Swearing in Mando'a)
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 1

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far, away…

The planet of Voss brightly shown into the cockpit of a star ship entering the atmosphere. The bright reds and oranges of the foliage quickly became the common sight for the pilot. The mountainous ranges helped guide him to Voss-Ka, the capital city of the planet. The pilot landed his large star ship and stood up.

Walking to the exit, the door opened with a hiss. Entering the light of the area, he looked around his surroundings. This planet still remained neutral in the continuing conflict of the Empire and the Rebels. The native species looked at him. Without hesitation, he walked over to one of the Voss men and began to talk to him.

"I'm looking for this individual." He pulled up a holoimage of a young woman.

The Voss looked at the image, and then back to him. His eyes glanced over the armor he war and eventually landed on the visor of his helmet, hiding his face. "A Mandalorian looking for someone. You must be a bounty hunter."

"Observant." He commented.

"The one you seek often camps on the edge of the Nightmare Lands." He pointed at a path. "Few Gormak or Voss go there. The land is unnatural, and causes the strong willed to loose grip on reality. You must pass Gormak territory to reach there."

The Mandalorian nodded before placing the device back on his belt. He began walking. Most of Voss looked the same as he continued his journey. Every once and a while he would see a new mountain range, and many wild animals, and some other individuals. He, though, remained focused on the mission he had.

This young woman had a large bounty on her head, and he didn't fully know why. She was worth more alive than dead. But he knew he might need to strike first. He was a fairly well known hunter, and often was contracted to take out difficult individuals against the Empire. He even had a Khyber Crystal or two from former Jedi who managed to hide from the Empire. Most of his contracts came from the Empire. They weren't afraid to fight dirty if needed.

After a lot of walking, he found that the trees began to change shape, and the air began to feel different as well.

_These must be the Nightmare Lands. _He thought as he turned and began to walk along the edge of the area. _She is supposedly camped out along here somewhere. I wouldn't think she would be camped in the area. Probably stays close so she's not bothered._

He began to search for a camp sight. As he searched, he found a set of foot prints. Not fresh, but he could find the defining shape of a boot. The size was small, but it was a heeled boot that told him it was more likely an adult than an adolescent.

Following the prints, he quickly saw the light of a fire come into view. Night had began to set in, and he needed to prepare to take the shot. Looking around once more, he saw a vantage point. He began to climb. Upon reaching the top, he pulled himself up and pulled out a rifle. Setting up a scope, he lay on his stomach and set up his shot.

Through the scope, he could see a hooded figure by the fire. Adjusting the range, it displayed a clearer aim. The figure seemed to be meditating. Though he didn't fully confirm that this was his target, he justified his actions by telling himself that no one else was reported to camp in these areas. In fact, he was told that practically everyone avoided these lands.

He lined up his shot once more, and took aim at the hood. He let out a breath, and squeezed the trigger. A loud bang rang through the forest, and his eyes widened. The shot had stopped, just moments before hitting the target. It seemed to be frozen in the air. The blast still radiated with heat and acted as though it tried to continue, but was being held back by an incredible force.

Information clicked in his mind. The large bounty, the difficulty finding the target, the reason she was preferred alive over dead. She was a Force User. His eyes stayed trained on the target as she stood up and turned towards the blast. Pulling off her hood, her face was revealed to him. She was the target he was looking for. But the holoimage didn't show much of what she really looked like.

She was a Chiss. A species from far away planets that was often considered unknown space. Her skin was a royal blue color, and her red eyes contrasted with it. Her hair was black, but when the light hit it right, dark blue showed in the highlights.

"Whoa, that was close." He heard her say as she looked at the blast that was mere inches from her.

She moved to the side, and the blast suddenly sailed past her and exploded in the ground passed where she was. Her eyes gazed over the area of where the blast came, but he was flat enough against the rock that she couldn't easily find him.

Instead, she lifted up her hand and held it next to her mouth. "Hey! Sorry to say, but you are going to need to try a lot harder than that to kill me. I've been at this for a long time!"

With that, she turned around and fell into meditation once again. He, on the other hand, sat up and propped up an elbow on his knee. He let out a string of grumbles. "...blasted … Force User… bounty… so blasted high…"

This one failure wasn't going to stop him though. He was determined to complete his contract. He just needed to wait for another opportune time. Maybe when she slept. He knew he most likely couldn't take her alive, she would fight against him the whole time. And a living Force user was harder to contain than a dead one.

He had taken longer to fulfill a contract, this wouldn't be any different.

* * *

He was wrong. So, wrong. Not only was this different, but his target seemed to be enjoying his attempts of killing her. It was like a game to her. Every way he tried to take the shot, she found a way to either dodge it, deflect it, or have it hit something else. All without the use of a Lightsaber. He knew she had two of them, they were sitting on her belt.

She also had a little droid that followed her around whenever she was at camp. But whenever she left, it stayed behind. This bounty was becoming a trial for the Mandalorian. He had tried almost everything.

He tried shooting her in her sleep. Her Force ability shielded her. He tried stabbing her in her sleep. His blade was stopped by that same Force. He tried shooting her while her head was under water when she swam. She was able to propel away from the blast before it even connected with the water. He was getting tired. He didn't want to stop though.

A growl came from his stomach. He didn't realize how hungry he was. Two days had passed since he landed on Voss, and he had been so focused on his target that he neglected to notice his needs. Propping up his rifle, he let out a sigh. The sound of rock hitting pottery caught his attention.

Looking over, he saw a bowl a stew next to him. No one was close by, but when he looked over to his target, he saw she was eating as well and nodded in his direction. He figured it would only take a certain amount of time before she figured out where he set up his camp.

His head turned back to the food. Hesitant, he reached over and grabbed the bowl. He turned so she couldn't see his face. Taking off his helmet, he ate the food. Though it didn't have much flavor, the food provided him with the sustenance he needed. Once finished, he placed his helmet back on his head and placed the bowl to the side.

"So," her voice caught him off guard. "You've been hiding up here for a while. It's getting a little creepy."

His reflexes caused him to pull a blaster from his side and point it at her.

She smirked and gave him a 'really' look. "You know that's not going to work."

He let out a sigh and dropped his arm. She rested her elbows on the rock, and placed her fists under her chin. Her eyes studied him, and they were wordless for a while.

"You are probably one of the most determined people to come after me." She commented. "Most people have given up by about the first day."

He didn't answer at first. But she wasn't leaving, so he figured it was best to indulge her so she would leave. "I always complete a contract."

"Ah." She nodded. "Bounty Hunter. I think you're the first. I never got to know the others."

He remained silent. He had always decided to never get close to any target. It could interfere with a contract. It seemed obvious to follow that.

"My name is Trisk." She held her hand out to him. "Seeing that we both are stubborn, we may as well as get to know each other."

She stayed in that position for a while. He refused to move. She leaned closer and waited. Her smile stayed on her face until he decided to indulge her once again.

He reached over and grabbed her hand, giving it a firm shake. "Meric."

"Nice to meet you, Meric." Her grin got bigger. "Glad to get to know you."

Her hand was still in his. Thinking quick, Meric used his strength to pull her over and throw her off the small cliff next to him. She flipped in the air and landed easily. Trisk looked up at him and smiled once more.

"Nice try." She called.

"Ne'johaa!" He shouted in Mando'a.

"I don't know what that means." She responded.

"It was still worth the shot!"


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 2

Several more days passed, and little progress happened with Meric and his target. She still tried to get to know him, and shared a lot about herself, but he refused to tell anything about himself. All she knew was his name, he was a Mandalorian, and he was there for her bounty.

Meric was sitting on the original perch that he had set up to take the shot when he first tracked her down. That ledge became his temporary camp until he completed the contract.

"You spend a lot of time up here." Her voice interrupted his thoughts again.

His head turned to look at her. "It's a good vantage."

She nodded, resting her head on her arms. "Also hard to spot or reach. I'm only able to really get up here by climbing. I could Force Jump if I wanted to, but its not really necessary."

She could tell he was not really understanding her. She did a lot of weird stuff, but it was how she survived for several years on Voss. Using the Force used energy that needed to be conserved for other important things. Her recent use of the ability had been the most she had used it since she went into exile.

"Why Voss?"

The sudden question caught her off guard. She looked into the visor of his helmet, but he didn't repeat himself. He just waited for her to answer. She smiled a hint before answering.

"When I went into exile," she started. "I had heard of Voss, but never got a chance to see it. I also wanted to continue my learning of the Force. The Mystics of Voss use the Force differently from Jedi or Sith. So, I wanted to learn."

He continued to listen, not interrupting as she talked. He wasn't really trying any tricks to meet his contract. Anything he tried wouldn't work. He needed to be more savvy on his attacks to out think her. She wasn't leaving him alone, and he got use to her talking to him.

"After I got here," she continued. "I had to take some time to simply hide. Once I knew I was safer. I went and trained with the mystics. Once I was done learning, I didn't have anywhere else to go. So, I stayed here to do my own training and meditation. The Nightmare Lands being so close allows for me to test myself. Those lands radiate the Dark Side of the Force in a way that tends for those who enter to go crazy. I've trained myself to resist the power for a period of time."

"You've never used your Force abilities against me." He stated.

She glanced up at him. "I can't."

He was silent for a moment. He didn't fully understand her. Though he had taken out several Force Users, he never studied it or tried to understand it. So, her answer confused him more.

"Through out the galaxy," she explained. "There are creatures that create a Force neutral bubble. We sometimes call them Force Resistant. I've never met a person who had that ability. You are the first."

His helmet tilted. "First person?"

She shrugged. "Most Force Resistant creatures are, well, creatures. Animals."

He leaned over and rested his elbow on his knee. "So, I'm a first."

"For me at least."

His holocom began beeping, and he lifted it to answer. An image of another Mandalorian showed up.

"Meric," he greeted. "You're on Voss right?"

"Yes."

The other Mandalorian rested his hands on his hips. "Great! A few people from the clan are here with me to hunt a big Vorantikus. We wanted to see if you would like to join us?"

Meric was silent. "I'm on a contract."

"Oh," he responded. "Is this one where you have to keep a close eye on otherwise they get away?"

He didn't know how to respond to that.

"Go on." Her whisper caught his attention. "I'm not planning on going anywhere. Join your friends."

He thought for a moment. "Alright, I'll meet you at Voss-ka."

"Perfect!"

The holocom ended. He put his communicator away and stood up. He needed to leave right then to make it. He looked down at her and waited for her to say something. But she seemed to be happy just to see him join is friends.

"If you are gone..." He began to explain.

"You'll hunt me down and kill me. I know." She finished his thoughts. "But it would be funny to see you try though."

His fist tightened, but he didn't correct her. Jumping down from the ledge, he made his trek back to the capital city of Voss. It would be a while before he would see his target again. He was trusting her word that she would still be there.

One day passed since Meric had left to join his the other Mandalorians in the hunt. Trisk had taken the time to go to Voss-ka to get some more supplies. She was able to trade some things she found around the camp, and she often would hunt for skins and meat to help herself as well. If anything, the things she got while she wondered would take care for her.

"You were the one the Mandalorian was seeking, yes?" The merchant asked her as she packed the goods she purchased.

"Yes, that is true." She answered.

The Voss man nodded. "He returned yesterday and joined some others."

"Yes," she confirmed. "He went to join their hunt for Vorantikus."

The merchant looked out towards the forest. "Vorantikus creatures are in the deep parts of the Nightmare Lands."

Trisk dropped her bag. "They're in the Nightmare Lands?"

The merchant only had time to nod once before she began running towards the camp. She didn't stop running. She even used some Force Ability to run even faster. She needed to help them. The fear of something happening to them plagued her mind. She didn't know what that land would do to them.

Trisk made it back to her camp and grabbed her sabers. She might need them. The droid that was with her jumped up and crawled over to her on spider-like legs. He let out a few quiet beeps.

"No, you can't come with me Pip." She said in haste. "I need to go into the Nightmare Lands and see if I can find Meric and his friends."

Pip let out a small shriek.

"Don't say that!" She responded then set down her hand to let him climb on it. "I know you don't like him. But that doesn't mean we let him die either."

The droid let out a whistle of understanding. With her bringing him up closer to her face, he jumped over and bumped her cheek in affection. He landed on the ground and scuttled back to the tent. Sitting down, Pip showed that he would wait for her.

"I'll be back in a while." She stated to him. "Hopefully."

Without waiting any longer, she ran into the forest, and began her search for the hunting party. She saw many creatures around. Large, and, for a lack of a better word, nightmare-ish. Her eyes scanned the areas she was passing. No signs of the Mandalorians.

Voss was a relatively peaceful place. As long as you avoided the Gormak or the predators, you would be fine. But the Nightmare Lands were filled with dangers beyond the creatures that lived in it. She hoped that they were okay. She hoped that they had already left. She hoped for anything other than the worst.

Blaster fire. The sound caused Trisk to stop in her tracks. It came from her right, so she began to follow that sound. Several more blasts helped her find her way towards them. The sound grew louder and louder as she grew closer. Finally, she saw the party. Two Mandalorians were on the ground holding a leg in pain. Meric had a blaster in his hand, while three more Mandalorians targeted him.

Trisk grabbed her sabers and ran in front of Meric. Activating the blades she slid to a halt right as his friends fired. Using her sabers, she deflected each shot from their target.

"Trisk?" Meric's voice called behind her.

She kept an eye on the other Mandalorians. "I came as soon as I found you were in the Nightmare Lands."

"Dark Side?"

She nodded. "The Force is effecting your friends. We need to get you and them out of here. I think your Resistance is protecting you from the area."

"You?"

"I can resist long enough." She answered.

He didn't say anything further. The prepared themselves to fight the others who were effected by the forest. Trisk went on the defensive and guarded Meric as he fired blasts that wounded the attackers. Once they were all incapacitated, Meric and Trisk let out a breath of relief. They needed to get out of there, and they needed to take five additional Mandalorians with them.

The forest's power was also starting to effect Trisk. Quiet voices whispered to her, she tried her best to ignore them. She simply focused on getting out of the area. She was hesitant to use her Force ability, she was already fairly weak from using it before, and the weaker she got, the more likely the Nightmare Lands would take hold of her mind.

She pushed the fear out of her mind though, and turned to Meric. He already had one Mando over his shoulder, and was working on propping one up so he could be a crutch to him. Trisk lifted her hand and focused on the other three. She felt a ripple of power flow through her as the three began to float. With that, she and Meric began the walk back to safety.

The trek was slow, and as more time passed, the voices became louder in her head. Multiple times she felt her hand on the hilt of one of her sabers, and she forced herself to pull her hand away. On occasion, Meric's head would turn towards her. She couldn't see his expression, but she could tell he was keeping an eye on her. Just in case she attacked.

She had never spent this long in the corrupted area. It was truly testing her abilities. Even when she was with the Jedi, she was never the strongest with the Force, but she willingly push herself to get stronger. She was lucky she was skilled enough to survive Order Sixty-Six.

The voices began to fade, and she was exhausted. They finally made it out of the forest. Taking the extra time, they made sure that they were at a safe distance before tending to the Mandalorians. Meric used some Kolto to help their wounds heal faster.

A small thump caused Meric to look away from his friends. His target had fallen to the ground, unconscious. "Trisk?"

He walked over and felt for a pulse. She was still alive, but that battle and her time in the Lands had taken its toll. Some moans caused him to look back at the hunting team he was with. One of them was regaining consciousness.

"Me'bana?" He asked. "Meric?"

The bounty hunter indicated towards the forest with his head. "Land's corrupted. It effected you and their minds."

"Thanks for not killing us."

Meric responded. "Gar shuk meh kyrayc."

"A rest sounds good." He responded. "Who's she? You're target?"

Meric nodded. "If she didn't come, Rix, I don't think we would have made it out of there."

The Mandalorian, Rix, brought his hand to the chin of his helmet. "Well, I think you should take advantage of this situation and take her to your ship. You can finally finish this contract."

Meric was silent.

"We'll be fine." Rix stated. "You go ahead. I'll be sure to get us back to our ship."

Meric nodded once more and placed his arms under Trisk's knees and back. He lifted her, and she fell limp against him. He began walking, but not to his ship. He was walking her back to camp.

Once he made it there, he walked to her small tent and placed her on the makeshift bed she set up. Her droid jumped up and ran towards him, trying to fight him off, but he just lifted is arm, allowing the spider legs to grab around his gauntlet.

"Don't make me dismantle you." He stated. "She's just resting."

He didn't trust her not to do anything while he slept. So, as a safety precaution, he took a small tracker and hid it on the back of her broach. Standing up, the droid jumped off him and stayed next to Trisk while he went back up to his perch. He too was exhausted, and needed the rest. Leaning against the rock behind him, he slumped and allowed his eyes to close so he could sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 3

When Meric woke again, he sat up and looked over to where Trisk was. Or, where she should have been. The camp that had been set up had disappeared. Her tent was gone. The area for the fire had been dismantled and all that was left was rocks. Everything was gone.

"Haar'chak!" He shouted and jumped off his perch.

Activating his Jet pack, he blasted towards Voss-Ka. The oranges and reds of the area flew passed him in a fury. There was no way he was allowing himself to lose this target. Before long, he found the buildings of the city and made his way to any transport that may be available. Finding a landing pad, he stopped just in time to see a smaller ship lift off. Watching closely, he was able to see Trisk working on taking off.

She looked out the window and saw him. She smiled and waved before her ship took off towards the atmosphere. Meric let out a small growl before taking off for his ship. He wasn't far from her, but he came to a sudden halt when he made it to his home.

"She booted my ship..." He stated through gritted teeth.

A large chain was connected to one of the landing gears and held the ship to the ground. He didn't have time for this. Taking a small explosive device, he connected it to the base of the chain, away from his ship. Walking to a safe distance, he activated it and was satisfied to hear the chain fall off. Wasting no time, he boarded his ship and took off after his target.

She had a small head start, but he knew he could catch up if he was careful. He had a long journey ahead of him. The darkness of space greeted him. He was glad he placed that tracker. Once they were out of hyperspace, he could find which planet she went to.

This woman was sending him on a wild womp rat chase. Though it was an interesting chase. Every where he went, he found high paying bounties that provided him with credits beyond what he usually got in one regular month. From Nar Shada, to Hutta, to Tatooine, he followed her to these systems.

_She must have something to with this. _He thought as he continued to search Tatooine for his target.

Usually, once he caught sight of his target, it was once again in a ship, flying to another system. He hoped that wouldn't be the case for this planet. Tatooine was hot. Though he had a cooling system in his armor, it was still almost unbearable to walk around in the heat.

In one of the smaller towns of Tatooine, he continued to keep an eye out for the alien that he had spent the better part of two weeks tracking. He needed to rest. So, entering a canteena, he sat down and enjoyed the shaded area. While resting, he pulled up a map of the area, looking for any places that could possibly be a hiding spot for his target. The tracker placed her not far from where he was at. It was actually on the move as well. If he was lucky, he would be able to catch up to her by the end of the day.

He couldn't rest long, otherwise he would lose her again. Standing back up, he walked out of the building and followed the tracker some more. Stopping suddenly, he noticed that the tracker was moving towards him. He looked up and saw her running towards him. He glared at her though his helmet and began to walk over to her.

"Meric," she breathed relief. "Thank goodness I found you."

He grabbed her arm. "Ship now."

She began to push at his hand. "No, Meric, please! I need you're help."

He began to drag her to his ship, not listening to her pleas.

"Meric, people will die if we don't do something!" She shouted, causing him to stop short. She continued. "Help me with this one thing, then I will go with you. No questions asked, no fighting, you get the live bounty. I promise."

He thought out his options. Meric didn't like the thought of innocent people dying. But at the same time, he didn't have the full story about what was going on. It could be another trick she was pulling on him. But at the same time, he also knew that he could easily knock her out and take her back to the ship if it was a trick. He was close enough in proximity he could probably pull something off. He let out a breath and released her.

"Thank you." her voice was genuine.

With that, he followed her as they left the town and entered the empty desert. It took some time, but after the trek, he saw that they were near an Imperial base. They pass the area and eventually found a small camp of rebels out of sight of the soldiers.

"Trisk!" One rebel called out. "You're back!"

Trisk ran up to the woman and grabbed her hands. "Yes, and I brought help."

The woman turned to look at Meric and let out a gasp. "A Mandalorian?! Most Mandalorians side with the Empire, Trisk."

Though the information was true. Meric usually was a neutral party, as well as was only loyal to contracts. It didn't matter if his employers were Imperial or Rebel. Most of his contracts did go through the Empire though.

"Don't worry." Trisk reassured her friend. "He's going to help."

"Explain." Meric turned his head towards Trisk.

Trisk agreed. "That Imperial base over there is on a man hunt for these Rebels. They also have a lot of POW's that need to be freed. These Rebels don't have the resources to be able to free them, or protect themselves from the impending attack. It's only a matter of time before one of those prisoners will tell them where we are hiding. You could probably get in and find out the layout of the base, as well as disable it."

"I'm not part of this war." The Mandalorian responded.

The Jedi placed a hand on his shoulder. "Meric, don't do this for the war. Do this for their lives. They don't deserve to be slaughtered like animals."

He looked down at her.

"Please, Meric." She pleaded once more.

He let out a frustrated sigh. She didn't need Jedi mind tricks to get him to do what she wanted. At least he was getting something in return in this deal. "Fine. Plan?"

She smiled. "Well, with you around, we can have you infiltrate the base. After that, maybe you could help a small party of Rebels get in and free the others. After that, we can see about disabling the base."

"That's a wish list." He stated. "Not a plan."

"Well, ne'johaa." She grinned at him.

"That doesn't mean what you think it means." He stated.

Her eyebrows knit together in confusion. "It doesn't mean 'it's worth the shot?'"

"No." He walked further into the camp to get an idea of what he was working with.

She chased after him. "Then what does it mean?"

He didn't respond.


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 4

On top of a ridge overlooking the base, Meric scanned the area with his range finder. The base was fairly large, but he knew it went deeper in the ground. The prisoners would be held below ground level. He needed a way to be able to get in and walk around. He had one idea, but he didn't know if any of the Rebels would agree to it.

"There you are." Trisk's voice said as she found him. "You seem to like high places."

He didn't respond. He was more focused on planning out escape routes and possible difficulties along the way. He had a lot of experience in this because several of his contracts called for him to out think his target and get them to run into his trap before he could take them in.

"Have any idea's yet?" She sat down next to him and looked at the base.

Meric lifted his range finder. "One, but I don't know if the Rebel's will go for it."

She tilted her head to look at him. "And what idea is that?"

"Take the acting leader in."

Trisk was silent. She thought about the idea, and it had potential. Thought it was a big risk. "Sort of like it was a bounty? It might work. I'd be willing-"

"No," he cut her off. "My bounty with you calls for me to take you somewhere else. I won't take you."

"You know that I can defend myself." She countered. "Plus, if this plan goes well, I'll be out with the rest of the prisoners."

"No."

She sighed in frustration. "Meric, honestly, if you take me in here, or later, the result will be the same for me. You know why there's a bounty on my head, right?"

He had a basic idea, but he never asked too many questions on a contract. As long as he got payed, he was satisfied.

"I'll be taken before the Emperor and Darth Vader themselves. They will try to convince me to join them, be apart of the Dark Side. I will naturally refuse. And they will kill me." She explained. "Vader has his Inquisitors to hunt any remaining Jedi down. If they don't join, they die. And I have defied them for many years now. Either way, here or in the future. I am dead."

"Can't you use your abilities to protect yourself?" Meric asked.

Her gaze went to the horizon. "Normally, yes. But it's different when fighting another Force User. Vader and the Emperor are very powerful in the Force. Stronger than me. So, I wouldn't be able to protect myself as well with them as I can with Non-Force users."

She had opened up a little to him. Despite the fact that she talked to him frequently back on Voss, he knew very little about her. She was a Jedi, but that's all he really knew.

Both were silent for a while. After everything that had happened, they both didn't really have much to say. Trisk had a lot on her mind, and Meric could tell. He needed to finish the plan, and have several back-ups just in case. Standing to leave, he also decided that it might be best to allow her some time alone.

Her hand reached up and grabbed one of his gauntlets. "Please stay. I don't want to be alone right now."

He was hesitant at first, but eventually sat back down next to her. The silence continued as he was there just to be an additional body for her. It felt strange to him to spend time with a target. But she saved his and his friends lives. He owed her for that.

"The bounties," he began. "You had something to do with that."

Her red eyes glanced at him. "You mean the ones you found on the other planets while chasing me? Yeah, I made sure that your path in tracking me would lead you to them. I honestly hoped that it would make it so you would drop your contract on me."

"Why?"

She let out a sigh. "I'm afraid. I don't want to die. Yet, it seems to be a following fear that will never leave me alone. One of the curses for surviving Order Sixty-Six."

Meric leaned forward, indicating he was listening.

She let out a small laugh. "It's a bit of a long story."

He didn't move.

She sighed again. "Thirteen years ago, I was one of the Guards for the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. I wasn't the most skilled in fighting. But I was strong in my defense. One day, the Sith Emperor attacked and activated a protocol called 'Order Sixty-Six.' This caused all of the effected Clone Troopers to attack the Jedi. So many died that day, but because of my defense, I was able to escape. It was difficult, but I hid until I could make it to my ship and fly to a more remote area. I tried my best to hide my Force Abilities, but seeing that you have a contract on me, that tells me otherwise."

"Family?"

"A lot of Jedi did have family before they went to train, but most of the time, Jedi are taught to detach themselves from connections like that. It allows us to be more focused on the task at hand and protecting the people. I, on the other hand, didn't have attachments like that." She answered. "The Chiss people see Force Users as weaker and imperfect. When I showed signs of Force Sensitivity, I was banished from my home world of Csilla. My family disowned me. It was illegal in our system to house a Force User."

This information was new for Meric. In Mandalorian culture, family was everything. Family spread from blood to their own clan. Family was deeper than blood. It shocked him to learn that there was a culture that would outcast someone for something they didn't have fault for. And it shocked him that this woman didn't have a real concept of family since she was cast out of her own.

"I had a few friends in the Jedi with me, but as far as I know, they are all dead because of Order Sixty-Six." She finished.

Silence continued. Though it had happened years ago, it still was difficult for Trisk to talk about. She had her time to mourn, but it was still difficult to remember all of that death and destruction that paved the way for the Empire to gain control over the Galaxy.

After a few more minutes, Trisk took in a deep breath and stood up. "Well, we better get back to work. That base isn't going to take itself out."

Meric stood up as well. "Right."

They both began walking back down to the camp. Meric had a lot to do to complete this plan. They wouldn't really be able to get started until the next day, but he could have most everything ready by that night. The next day was going to be an adventure.


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 5

The next day started out very hot. But in the shade of the camp, Meric displayed the plan he had worked on the previous day. The first part of the plan would be more recon than anything. The leader of the Rebels agreed to act as a captured bounty so they could get an idea for the layout of the inside of the base and find the other prisoners. He had also spent a large part of the night putting together a fake bounty on the leader, hoping that it would cause enough confusion that he could get enough of an understanding of the layout so he could plan for the next part of the goal.

"Ready?" Meric asked the leader.

The Rebel nodded.

Before taking any chances, Meric walked over and placed a tracker on the Rebel, hidden from anyone's sight.

"What do you want me to do?" Trisk asked, eager to help in any way.

"You stay here." Meric ordered. She was about to protest, but he beat her to it. "You said your defense was strong. I need you here to protect the camp in case anyone comes. You are our final line of defense."

She stared at him for a little bit, and then nodded in agreement. With that, he turned to the leader. Taking his blaster, Meric hit the Rebel hard on the head, causing him to be knocked out. A whispered apology left the Mandalorian's lips as he caught the man and lifted him over his shoulder.

"Meric!" Trisk objected.

He turned and pointed at her. "It needs to look real. Stay here, I'll be back tonight."

After those words, he left and made his way to the Imperial base. The trek felt longer due to the heat and the additional weight he had to carry, but he could manage. The base came into sight, and he made his way to the front entrance. Two troopers stopped him.

"State your business." One said.

Meric dropped the Rebel on the ground. "Delivering a bounty."

The troopers looked at each other, confused. Neither had been given information about a bounty or a bounty hunter coming. One raised his hand to his helmet, and called for one of the commanding officers to come and help with the situation. During the exchange, Meric pulled up his information that displayed the bounty. It also only gave the information to deliver the target alive at the base he was at.

Eventually, one of the commanding officers took him and the Rebel into the base to go see the General that was over the base. The base was large, and there were a lot of troopers around. With that in mind, Meric knew he needed to draw most of them out of the base before he could come back in for the rest of the prisoners.

The General met them in a large area of the base. He looked at Meric, unimpressed, but his eyebrows went up when he recognized the Rebel leader that had fought against him on the desert planet.

"I was told you were delivering a bounty?" The man asked.

Meric only nodded.

He reached up and rubbed his chin. "I made no request for a bounty hunter. But, you did save me a lot of trouble in finding this man."

Meric remained silent as the General thought things through.

"Very well," he concluded. "Pay the Mandalorian his bounty. And double it. Whether this be accidental, coincidental, or not. He did help our cause. He deserves his pay."

After a few minutes, Meric got the notification of Credits being transferred to his account. He didn't get to see where they took the Rebel leader, but he would still be able to find him with the tracker. With a nod, Meric left the base the way he came and made his way back to the camp.

Trisk was waiting at the entrance. She breathed a sigh of relief once he came into view and ran to meet him half way. She stopped just short of him.

"How did it go?"

He looked back at the base. "Fine. I didn't see where they took the prisoners, but I'll be able to find him with the tracker I placed."

She looked passed him at the base as well. "And they believed you?"  
"Was even payed." He nodded.

She nodded as well. "What's next?"

"Distraction."

* * *

"We are going to need a large distraction to pull most of the troopers out of the base." Trisk informed the rest of the Rebels. "Meric went to get his ship, he will be back soon. But he plans on using that, along with any other resources we may have. Those troopers need to be out of there long enough for Meric to complete the next part of his plan."

She continued as the Rebels listened. A blaze of hope glowed in each individual's eyes. They were ready to win a battle and free their friends. Trisk could only tell them so much. Meric didn't even tell her what her part in the plan was. She finished and walked away. It had been a long time since she had been in this situation. Being a Temple Guard, she didn't have the experience of leading an army, or planning a battle. If anything, she and the other guards were more just for sudden defenses if the Temple was attacked.

A ship flew over head and turned around, landing close by. She recognized it to be Meric's ship. She ran to meet with him. The door opened right as she arrived at the ship. Meric walked out and walked down the ramp.

"Status?" He asked once he was walking next to her.

She followed him back towards the camp. "I gave them the basic run down of what was going to happen. But we all are waiting for our assignments."

Meric nodded. Looking up, he saw one of the Rebel's coming to talk to them. All of them stopped once they met. The Rebel gave Meric a report.

"Scouts have found a small landing pad near the base," she told Meric. "We could probably take out some of the guns and their ships that are there."

He nodded. "That's good. Can anyone in the camp pilot a ship?"

The Rebel nodded. "There are several that are willing to jump in and do any piloting needed."

"Serimir." He said in Mando'a. "A group of your people will pilot my ship and take out that landing pad and any other ships. Any other remaining that is fit for fighting should get ready to attack on the ground. Go for long ranged attacks so there are fewer casualties."

Trisk jumped in. "What about me?"

"You stay with the camp." He stated, and before she could argue he added. "Those that remain won't be fit to fight. You need to stay behind and protect them in case any troopers find the camp and attack."

She nodded.

Meric turned back to the Rebel. "Weapons?"

"We have a variety of blasters." She responded.

"Good."

They began to walk back to the camp to finish setting things up. Though, the Mandalorian and the Rebel didn't notice that Trisk wasn't following that effectively.

"Meric!"

He turned to look at her. He hadn't noticed that she had sunk into the sand and was almost hip high in the stuff. Walking back over, he grabbed under her arm and pulled up until she was out.

"Thanks, I didn't realize the sand was soft here." She laughed. "I guess having smaller feet doesn't help."

A breath of frustration left his chest as he half carried her to solid ground. "Hate sand."

They made it back to the camp, and after Meric spent several hours making sure that everyone knew where they were going, and what they were doing, he finally had some time to relax. The suns had climbed high in the sky, and the heat was getting to him. Trisk had stayed close the entire time, and he could tell she was tired from the heat as well. Csilla, from what he knew, was an ice planet. So, he assumed she may not had been use to the hotter temperature.

Sitting down, Meric let out a sigh. It was too hot for this. It was already hard to breath in his helmet. Deciding to allow some relief, he pulled off his helmet and set it to the side. Though the air was still hot, it didn't feel as stuffy as when he was in the helmet. Fresh air filled his lungs. Glancing over at Trisk, he noticed her eyes were wide.

"What?"

She blinked. "Oh, sorry. I've just never seen you with your helmet off. I didn't know what you looked like."

He nodded.

She took a drink from a canteen. "I've noticed you're a man a few words."

"I only say what needs to be said."

"I've noticed." Trisk offered him the canteen so he could cool off a bit.

He took it and drank a few gulps. Looking out over the camp, he examined the Rebels as they prepared for the battle. It reminded him a lot of his people. Eager, fire filled, strong willed, these people were ready for a fight. In a little while, they would attack.


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 6

The time for the attack came. Meric stood at the entrance of the camp with a small group of Rebels who would help him in infiltrating the base. Another group of Rebels were on Meric's ship, preparing to attack the Imperial ships. The remaining available ones were preparing to attack on the ground. Anyone who couldn't fight were left at the camp, Trisk staying behind to protect them.

Sending Meric's group off, Trisk stood at the entrance. Though she wanted to help out more, she knew that it was important to protect those who couldn't fight. She watched as Meric gave some final details to his group. Once he finished, they all nodded in agreement. He looked over towards her.

Jogging back towards her, he stopped just in front of her. They simply stared at each other for a moment. She sighed and looked down to the sand below them. She was worried she wouldn't see him again. As silly as it was, she came to think of him as a friend.

"If you are gone..." He stated while pointing at her.

"You'll hunt me down and kill me." She laughed. Leaning against the rock formation next to her, she added. "It would be funny to see you try though."

He chuckled, cracking half a smile before turning to rejoin his group.

The smile caught Trisk off guard. She never had seen him smile before. And she had to admit, he was attractive. The smile just added to it. She hoped that he would be safe.

Meric and his group waited in their designated spot for the attack to begin. Helmet on his head, Meric watched the base. He lifted his hand to connect the com. Waiting for an opportune time, he called to his ship, the Vanguard.

"Begin the attack." He commanded. "And try not to have my ship destroyed."

"Copy." The Rebel on the ship answered.

Moments later, the Vanguard flew over and blasted at the landing pad, destroying several ship that were there. A battle cry came from the ground as the Rebels began to fire on troopers that began to filter into the area.

Waiting a few moments, Meric lifted a blaster and fired at the two troopers that stood guard. With them down, he and the rest of the group made their way into the base. The attack outside caused the majority of the small army to go fight there, making it so Meric could make his way to the rest of the prisoners.

There were a few guards left, but their forces were over powered by Meric and the others. Following the tracker's signal on his gauntlet, they made their way to the lower floors. They found the cells, and Meric went to free the prisoners.

"Are you alright?" One of the Rebel's asked a prisoner.

They let out a breath. "Yeah, a little bruised. But we're fine."

After a few moments, Meric was able to successfully open the cells. The prisoners walked out and joined the rest of the Rebels. The Mandalorian joined the group, but he had one more thing to do.

"Get everyone back to the camp." He instructed.

"What about you?"

He pulled out several bombs. "I'm going to decommission this place for a while."

With that, he parted ways with them and ran towards what where the generators were. Once he reached the area, he wasted no time in placing the bombs in several strategic locations that would increase the damage. Several long moments passed as he did this, now he needed to get out of there before he could detonate them.

Running to the elevator, he went up several floors. Once he reached the top floor, he found himself face to face with the General and several Storm Troopers. He let out a breath and placed a hand on his blaster.

"I should have figured." The General stated. "Things worked out too well for us. Though I couldn't stop the prisoners from escaping, I can have the joy of seeing you dead."

"Think again." He said while he pulled out the detonator.

The General let out a gasp. "No!"

Pressing the button, the charges exploded and the base began to shake. Meric activated his jet pack and took off over them. The base began to crumble and Meric escaped before the entrance collapsed.

The desert heat greeted him as he made his way back to camp. He saw the group of Rebels meeting together at the camp and made his way back down. The group was elated to have their friends back.

Meric landed and pulled off his helmet. Holding it in one arm, he jogged over to the rest of the group, specifically keeping an eye out for his target.

"Meric!"

He turned and saw Trisk run towards him. He met her half way and was shocked when she wrapped her arms around him. He placed an arm around her. A half smile coming to his face, he allowed for her action of joy.

He pulled away. He assumed adrenalin was running though her because she grabbed his face and kissed him. His eyes widened at the action. She pulled away, at first not recognizing her actions until a few moments later. Just then, she realized that the Rebels had gone silent.

Sudden blush came to her cheeks as she jumped away. Trisk turned and walked away at a fast pace. Meric stood frozen for a while, and blinked a few times. Once his senses came back to him, his eyes followed her.

"Trisk?"


	7. Chapter 7

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 7

"Trisk." Meric called to his target.

She didn't respond, simply keeping the fast pace in her walk to keep a distance between them. Her eyes remained on the sand below her feet. Not paying attention to the area, she found it harder to walk fast as her feet began to sink into the soft substance below. She was stuck.

Meric caught up to her. "Is this going to be a constant struggle with you?"

He reached down and pulled her out. Trisk remained silent. He let out a frustrated breath and pulled her back to solid ground. Once they were alone and able to not worry about her sinking again, he released her.

He crossed his arms. "What's wrong?"

It took her a while to respond. "Do you know why Jedi were told to not form attachments?"

He shook his head.

"Those sort of attachments could lead anyone to the Dark Side." She explained. "From the stories I heard, Vader use to be a Jedi. But his emotions and attachments made him fall into a path of hate."

"How does that happen?" He asked.

"When you are close to someone or something, you tend to fear for it's safety. You want to make sure that it is protected." She continued, her eyes on the ground. "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. That is the path to the Dark Side."

"Then you have nothing to worry about." He stated, gaining a shocked look. "You have no attachments with me. Your actions back there were out of adrenalin and joy for a successful mission. So, stop worrying. Right now we have something more important to do."

"And what's that?"

"Those Imperials won't stop." He explained. "They'll start rebuilding the base, and they will hunt down those Rebels. My suggestion is that we get them to Mos Eisley so they can get off the planet. Maybe join the bigger resistance. Otherwise this battle would have been for naas."

"I'm assuming that means, 'nothing.'" The Jedi observed.

He gave her a crooked smile. "You would assume correct."

With that, they went back to the Rebels. Meric explained the situation and all agreed it would be best to leave the planet. Each person went back to the camp to pack up as quickly as possible. Meric's ship was large enough to take the group to Mos Eisley. It would be a tight fit, but they could manage. Meric would drop them off there, then take Trisk to his bounty.

The thought caused conflict in Meric. He had come to respect the Jedi after the time he had spent with her. She also helped him in getting some high priced bounties along the way. This was part of the reason he tried not to get close to his targets. It caused a conflict of interest.

Once everyone was on his ship, Meric took the pilots seat, with Trisk standing behind him, and he took off towards the city. It didn't take long to make it to the landing pad. He didn't want to stay long in case any Imperials would recognize the ship. The Rebels began to filter out of the ship. Meric and Trisk were the last to exit the ship.

"Thank you." The leader of the Rebels said to them. "For helping us get our friends and family back. How can we repay you?"

"The deal has already been met." Meric stated. "No need for payment."

"I'm just glad that everyone made it out okay." Trisk added.

The leader nodded, and then turned to join the rest as they went to find a shuttle to get them off world.

"Stay here," Meric commanded. "I'm going to get some supplies before we leave."

Trisk nodded and stood next to the ship. She watched as many different people of different species walked around the area. Her thoughts were wondering as she took note of the actions of the people around her. Her eye froze on one particular figure.

An older gentleman walked slowly across the sand. He had a hood over his head, but Trisk could tell who he was. A small smile came to her lips as the man looked over to her.

"You actually didn't try to escape." Meric's voice came to her as he returned with several crates. "I'm shocked."

She answered, her eyes staying on the older man. "I gave my word, didn't I?"

Meric looked over in the direction she was staring. "You know him?"

She turned. "No, he's just the town hermit."

He nodded. "Then we better go."

Trisk nodded and looked back at the man. He gave her a small smile and nodded. She returned the nod before turning and walking onto the ship. She was happy to see him, but a ping of sadness entered her heart as she thought about how her life was going to end.

"Well," she stated and held out her hands. "A deal is a deal."

Meric looked down at her hands and shook his head. "That won't be necessary."

"What?"

He guided her to one of the many seats and had her sit down. Going to the center console, he called his employer. His image showed up on the holo.

"Meric." The man said, an Imperial Officer. "Have you news on the alien?"

"Yes." He stated. Meric glanced at Trisk, though not moving his helmet for the Officer to know. Her head hung low as she waited for him to give the information. "I'm afraid I've lost the trail. She found the tracker I place and dropped it on Tatooine. No one has seen her."

He let out a sigh. "Disappointing. Do you have a way to pick the trail back up?"

"I'm afraid not. From what I've observed, she's not one to return to hide at planets she previously hid on." He explained. "I'm sorry. But I'm going to have to terminate this contract. I won't be able to complete it for you."

"Very well." The Officer stated.

The line cut off. The area was silent for a while. Meric let out a sigh before turning to the cockpit. "We best be off."

"Wait," Trisk ran after him. "What just happened?"

He talked as he went to start up the ship. "I'm not taking the bounty."

The Vanguard hummed to life as he pressed some buttons and began to lift into the air for them to take off. Trisk sat in the chair next to his, still confused.

"But why?"

He paused in his movements for a bit. Then continued as he took them out of the atmosphere of the desert planet. "I don't turn in my friends as bounties."

Her heart stopped.

"As hard to believe as it may seem. Heck, I'm still trying to convince myself its true. But I do respect you for the things you have done." He explained. "You saved my life, as well as Rix and the other Mandalorians on Voss. You helped me find and catch some high paying bounties. As well as, you helped those Rebels when you were trying to stay hidden from the Empire."

Glanced over at her and saw her jaw hanging to the ground.

"You deserve the respect you have earned." He continued. "So, I'm going to get you someplace safe." He thought for a moment. "Maybe you should stay with me."

"What?"

He laughed and looked at her. "Are you really that speechless? Here's my understanding. You need to be somewhere that's hard for anyone after you to find. What better than a ship that is constantly moving? As well as I will be around to help protect you."

"Meric, you're scaring me." She stated. "This is pretty sudden."

"For you," he clarified. "Maybe, but for me, I've thought about it for a while. Taking your bounty didn't feel right. You trusted me with a lot. Now, it's my turn to trust you."

"Meric..."

"But," He turned back to the controls and piloted them away from the planet. "We need to get away from Tatooine before any Imperials are able to connect this ship to the one that attacked the base."


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 8

Some time passed as Trisk and Meric became adjusted to their new living arrangements. Life on a ship had become normal for Trisk. Having woken Pip from his temporary sleep, she had an additional friend. She had him in sleep mode during her time on Tatooine. He didn't like sand either and opted to sleep the whole experience.

Trisk traveled a lot with Meric since she joined him. Though most of the time she stayed on the ship when he needed to land for either a job or to get more supplies, she enjoyed being able to see some planets she had never been to.

"What about your ship?" Meric asked while they relaxed, the Vanguard floating in open space.

She looked up. "What ship?"

"The one you used to get off of Voss." He clarified.

"Oh," she remembered. "I sold it on Nar Shada. The credits helped me get to Hutta and Tatooine. I didn't want it to become a liability when you caught me."

"You expected me to catch you?"

"Yeah," she admitted. "I figured that you were diligent enough to eventually catch me. I didn't expect you to spare me though."

"Elek," he confirmed. "That's not something I often do with my targets."

She leaned forward in a teasing motion. "So, I'm special?"

"No, you're like one of those creatures that, no matter what you do, they won't die." He teased back.

"Guess I'm just stubborn." She said with a grin.

There was a silence that entered the ship after her comment. He wanted to get to know her more, and she could tell he had some questions. He just didn't quite know how to phrase them.

"So," he started. "You were exiled from your home world, joined the Jedi, became a Temple Guard, survived Order Sixty-Six, hid on Voss, learned from the Mystics, and stayed there until I came along. Am I missing anything?"

"No," she shook her head. "You hit about everything."

"What was it like to be a Jedi outside of the Order?"

She thought for a bit. "After I went into exile after Order Sixty-Six, I actually dropped the title of Jedi. I don't consider myself a Jedi. I tried to continue to live by the teachings, especially because I feared being discovered. But I decided that it would be best to try to live as normal a life as possible."

She sighed. "That didn't last long though. Once someone caught wind I was a Force User, and a Jedi, I had several people come to kill me. So, I hid where people wouldn't come look for me. The people of Voss treated me kindly, but anyone outside of that..."

Meric blinked as he processed this new information. _No longer a Jedi?_

"Let's just say that you're the first person who treated me with kindness." She admitted.

He looked back at her. "What about the Rebels?"

"They didn't trust me at first." Trisk said. "It took a while for them to even listen to me. Their attitudes began to turn around when I said I was going to get help."

"Interesting."

She shrugged. "Water under the bridge, right?"

"It can't be just because you were a Jedi." Meric countered.

She shrugged again. "Some of the prejudice could be because I'm a Chiss. A lot of Imperials, or humans in general, look down on alien species." She rubbed her eyes. "I can't say I didn't encounter it when I was with the Jedi, I just encountered it less."

He leaned forward. "Sounds like you had a hard life."

"I learned a lot though." She smiled. "But, that's enough about me. I want to know about you."

Meric leaned back into a relaxed position. "Let's see what you can figure out."

She stared at him. "Born Mandalorian."

"Obviously."

She smiled. "You must have been born on Mandalore."

"No."

"What?"

"My parents live there, yes." He grinned. "But I was actually born on their ship. I came a little early."

"That must have been an adventure."

He laughed. "True. I should stop by home sometime. It's been a while since I saw them."

"Any other siblings?"

"No," he answered. "After I was born, my mother was wounded in a battle that made it so she couldn't have any more children. But, it's okay. Mandalorian culture makes it so family extends beyond blood. Our clan is our family."

She chuckled at the statement. "I'm a little envious. I don't know what that feels like."

Meric looked up at the ceiling. "I think you have a sense of what it's like. You have your droid, who loves you to death. By the sounds of it you had some friends that made it so you weren't lonely while you were with the Jedi. Now, you have me as a friend, and I gave my word to help you and be an additional protection. If anything, your friends are the family you choose."

His words warmed her heart, but one thing was incorrect about his statement. "The droid's name, is P1-P, or Pip. He deserves to be called as such."

Pip let out a little growl at Meric from her shoulder. He was acting as if challenging the Mandalorian.

"_Pip,_" he said strongly. "Still has yet to earn my respect. The most he's done is almost getting blasted by skittering around on those thin legs of his."

"He's startled you a few times, hasn't he?" Trisk teased.

Meric rubbed his eyes. "Like a tiny Krykna."

"I've been meaning to ask," Trisk turned the conversation back towards him. "How did you get that scar on your lips?"

Instinctively, Meric's hand went up and touched the scar. "That happened during the Great Hunt. It's a galaxy wide competition between bounty hunters. Several Mandalorians join in each year. I was competing, and I was along with one of my friends from my Clan." He let out a sigh. "After we both completed getting several targets, eventually we were put against each other."

"You had to fight?"

"The Great Hunt is set up where you and one other bounty hunter both target the same bounty. The only way to win is to take the bounty, and also defeat your competition. Sometimes these hunters don't surrender. Bounty hunters die each year. My friend and I both were after one target. I managed to win the bounty, but he wouldn't go down without a fight." He explained.

"Was he one that wouldn't surrender?" She asked.

"No," he answered. "But I didn't kill him. You actually met him, sort of. His name is Rix. I went with him on that hunt on Voss."

"Oh!"

"Elek," He smiled. "He fought, because Mandalorians are stubborn and don't often surrender. He hit me pretty hard and left me with this scar. But I got back at him and shot him in the leg, taking him out of the competition. After that, he decided that bounty hunting wasn't his thing. But he does like a challenge and goes on a hunt for big creatures."

Trisk laughed at his story. "So, were you the Champion of the Great Hunt?"

"No," He admitted. "I was taken out of the competition by another bounty hunter. Name of Fett."

"Wait, Fett?"

"Yes."

"Do you know if they are connected to Jango Fett?" Trisk asked.  
"Pretty certain Boba was his cloned son." Meric answered.

Trisk's hand went up to her chin. "I remember hearing that Jango Fett was the genetic resource for the Clones used in the Clone Wars. Were they Mandalorians?"

"No," Meric explained. "From what Boba told me, his father got his Mandalorian armor from his mentor who was a Mandalorian."

"And Boba's armor?" She asked.

Meric placed a hand on his chin. "Modified Mandalorian armor that he got from Jango. The armor you often see Mandalorians wearing is more for warriors and soldiers. Any bounty hunter that's a Mandalorian tends to use this armor because its some of the strongest in the Galaxy."

"How well did you know him?" She asked.

"Hmm," he thought. "I know Boba pretty well, but he never mentioned much about his father. In fact, he's still young. But he was raised by bounty hunters after his father's death. It didn't surprise me that he won."

"How young is he?" She asked.

"Not that young compared to us. Early twenties." He thought for a bit. "Let's just say, I hope you don't meet him."

"Really?"

"One of the only things he mentioned about his dad was that a Jedi killed him." He explained. "He continued bounty hunting in honor of his father, and he mainly focus's on any bounties dealing with a Jedi. I think he hopes to find the Jedi who killed his father and seeks revenge on him."

"But you didn't claim my bounty." Trisk brought up. "What if he finds out about me and comes after me."

Meric held up his hand. "The Imperials that hired me won't put out another bounty on you until they have a location that could direct the hunter to you. I told them that I lost the trail and couldn't pick it back up. For now, you are safe."

She was still skeptical. Though he had sound logic, there was a small fear of someone eventually finding her. She let out a sigh, wondering what to do.

"Besides," Meric clarified. "If anyone comes after you, I'm around to help protect you. Any bounty hunter would have to fight a Jedi..." He paused. "Sorry, former Jedi and a Mandalorian to win your bounty."

Trisk smiled at him. She opened her mouth to thank him, but a beeping at the console interrupted their conversation. Meric stood and walked over to answer the call. It had become a regular thing that whenever calls were incoming, Meric would be the one to answer so it would decrease the chance of someone finding out who she was.

"This is Meric of the Vanguard." Meric answered the call once the holoimage appeared. "What can I do for you?"

"Wonderful," an Imperial responded. "We have a special bounty for you hunter. We need you to go to Hoth and pick up someone for us. His name is Trokl, a Chiss man that our Commander desires to speak with."

"Done." Meric responded. "But I require more information."

"I'll send you the location of his last sighting." The Imperial stated. "But you won't be able to find him with that alone. You will have to ask the explorers of the area. Be wary, you may encounter pirates there."

"Wanted alive, understood." Meric confirmed.

"One more thing I can give you." The Officer said. "This man is very influential on the Chiss home world, dropping his full name will help you. Remember Ihat'rok'llaghe."

Meric nodded his head. "It will be done."

The call ended. Meric turned around and looked at Trisk. Her eyes were wide. She was in shock. Something about that call had shook her. Was it because it was a Chiss man he was going after? Or was it something else?

"Trisk?"

She stood up and looked at Meric with pleading eyes. "May I come with you this time?"

"You haven't wanted to join me before." He observed. "You usually choose to stay to stay out of sight. What makes this different?"

She looked down at the ground, hesitant to tell him the reasons. But she trusted him. So, she met his eyes once again. "The man you are going after… Is my father."


	9. Chapter 9

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 9

"We're starting the landing procedures," Meric called back to Trisk. "Be sure to cover up. We're landing in a blizzard."

"You remember that my home world and people are on Ice Planets?" She called up to him.

"Still," he responded. "You also might want to hide your broach. Were landing in an Imperial base, we don't want anyone to see Jedi symbols."

"Got it!"

Meric lowered the ship some more and pressed a few more buttons. "What's your plan when you see this guy?"

"Nothing."

"Meaning you haven't thought of anything?" He asked.

She countered. "Meaning I'm not going to do anything."

He was a little confused but didn't say anything more until he phrased things correctly. "This man disowned you. Why do you want to see him again?"

She was silent for a while, figuring out the answer for herself. "I guess I want to see if anything has changed. I highly doubt it though."

"Why do you say that?"

"The Chiss are very proud people." She explained. "They don't like saying they are wrong. Once they make a decision, they hardly ever change their mind."

Meric listened. "I haven't seen that with you."

"That's because I was exiled at the age of five. Shortly after I was taken in by the Jedi and learned a new lifestyle." She clarified.

The ship came to a halt as the feet touched the ground. Meric finished the procedures to shut the ship down. Once he completed, he stood up and walked back to join Trisk. She had on a coat with a hood, and a scarf around her neck. Meric grabbed his helmet and placed it on his head.

"Don't you want something more than that?" Trisk pointed at his usual armor.

He lifted his gauntlet and showed her one of the buttons. "This creates a heat regulation in my armor, I should be fine. What about you, doesn't that seem a little light?"

"I'll be fine."

He nodded and placed his hand on the button that opened the door. A sudden burst of cold wind entered the area. Trisk pulled up her scarf over the lower half of her face and lifted her hood to cover her head. Once the door opened, Meric grabbed Trisk's arm and helped guide her though the storm to the cover of the base.

Once they were safely in the base, both let out a breath of relief. At the time, they wouldn't be able to do much searching for Trokl. The blizzard made it impossible to do any tracking at the time. They had to wait it out for the time being.

One of the troopers walked up to them. "Meric?"

Meric nodded.

"Who's this?" He indicated towards Trisk with his blaster.

"My assistant."

"Right." The trooper responded. "Please follow me."

He turned and walked away. Trisk and Meric followed close behind as he guided them to a separate room, where some Imperial Officers waited. Once they entered the room, the officers looked at them. Upon seeing the small bit of Trisk's face, they knew she was a Chiss. They didn't hide their disapproval.

"Hunter," The leader greeted them. "We have been contacted by the Commander who hired you. We are to help you in any way possible in finding Trokl."

"I won't need much." Meric explained. "For now, shelter will do as we wait out the blizzard."

The leader nodded. "Very well. I would like to discuss in more detail about Trokl, but I would request that your alien friend to wait outside the room."

Trisk noticed his fist squeezed tighter as he responded. "What's wrong with her being here?"

She lifted her hand and touched his arm. "It's okay."

Without waiting for any arguments, she walked out of the room and waited by the door while Meric talked with the other Officers. She kept her hood up and her scarf covering her face, it meant less people having a chance to recognize her. While she waited, she noticed how the other troopers would occasionally glance her way. This was what she mostly dealt with after the Jedi Order was destroyed. A lot of strange faces looking at her with distrust.

Meric joined her a little while after and caught her attention by bumping her arm with his hand. He nodded towards a destination and began to walk, Trisk following behind him. After a short walk, they found themselves in a simple room meant for higher authorities to bunk while they stayed. It was vacant at the time, so Meric was given approval to use it for the time he would be there.

"I seriously wanted to punch each of them." Meric admitted.

Trisk laughed. "Careful, they might hear you."

Sitting down he leaned forward and looked at her. "They have no right to treat you like that. You have done nothing to them."

"Prejudice." She confirmed. "Even the Chiss have it. I'm use to it."

"You shouldn't have to be use to it."

Trisk sat down next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. We won't be here too long. Once we find Trokl, we can leave and never have to see them again."

Meric let out a sigh and reached and placed his hand on top of hers. It was a simple gesture, but he hoped that it would indicate that he still cared about his friend. The blizzard wasn't letting up anytime soon, and they had to simply wait until they could continue their search.

Some time passed, and the storm had died down. Meric and Trisk stood that the opening of the base, preparing to search the frozen wasteland. Trisk waited silently as Meric finished talking to the Officers. She still wasn't welcome, which she could tell was getting on the Mandalorian's nerves.

He finished talking to them and walked over to her. Placing a hand on her back, he guided her outside of the base. He wanted to get away from there soon. He had dealt with prejudice before, but he still hated it. Especially with it pointed at his friend. It wasn't a foreign topic to Mandalorians. They had their pride, but they had adopted others outside of their own into their clans before. Most of the time, when someone had shown that they had the heart of a Mandalorian, the respect for them instantly grew. That's what happened with Trisk.

Meric trusted her, and respected her. Any prejudice he had for her before was gone. Probably the biggest distrust for Mandalorians was with Jedi. A war between them and the Mandalorians stemmed a long lasting grudge against the Jedi for his people. He use to have the same thoughts, but that changed when he got to know Trisk.

He had associated all Jedi with a group that had long died off. That was a mistake that Meric did not intend to do again. Though he considered himself more open minded than most Mandalorians, he didn't push it past him for looking down on people he didn't know.

"What are you thinking about?" Trisk's voice broke into his thoughts.

He glanced over at her. "Just annoyed at how they are treating you."

She looked closer at him. "There's more going on in there."

He stopped and looked down at her. "Then why don't you use your Jedi powers to make me tell you?"

He saw her eyes smile as she caught his sarcasm. "I can't, remember?"

Meric laughed before they began walking again towards the open ice land of Hoth. He looked over the horizon and brought up a map on his wrist. It displayed the last known location of the target. Looking out and at their position, he pointed the direction they needed to go.

"That way." He directed. "We best be careful. This planet has Wampa."

Trisk nodded and went that direction, but once she stepped off the path of compacted snow, her leg sunk through. Meric grabbed the back of her coat and pulled her back up.

"Maybe we should see about getting some Tawn Tawn." He said with humor in his voice. "Otherwise I'll be digging you out of snow this whole contract."

"Good idea." She agreed.


	10. Chapter 10

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 10

After a fair amount of traveling on the beasts the Imperials allowed them to use, Meric and Trisk arrived at the location where Trokl had last been seen. Meric jumped off the Tawn Tawn and walked around the area, looking for any clues. He let out a frustrated groan before turning to his friend.

"The blizzard covered any signs of tracks that could have been found." He explained. "What do you think he would have done."

She thought for a bit. "If he knew a storm like that was coming, he would have gone for shelter. Probably one of the closest caves around."

Meric nodded and brought up his map. Observing the area around him and accounting for the map, he found a likely location for a cave. He indicated for Trisk to follow. She jumped off the Tawn Tawn and followed him. Luckily the snow had compacted some in the area they were in, and a layer of ice helped preventing her from sinking into the ground.

They found the area that Meric assumed was a cave, and did find a small opening. It was large enough for a Wampa to go through, but one of the smaller caves of Hoth. They entered, Meric pulling one of his blasters just in case any hostile animals were there. They trudged through the area as silently as possible.

The cavern opened up to a larger area and it became apparent to the two that this was a den for a creature. Remaining piles of bones and cloth littered several areas. It didn't seem as though the animal was there at the time, so Meric moved forward to see if their target had left a trace.

As luck would have it, they found Trokl hanging unconscious in the ice above them in a further cavern. Meric scanned him quickly and found that he was alive. They needed to get him down and out of there fast before the Wampa would return.

"Trisk," he called out. "Could you?"

He pointed at the ice holding her father. She looked at it and nodded. Pulling out one of her sabers, she lifted it to the ice and began cutting him out. The heat from the saber melted the ice and soon enough he fell to the ground, Meric holding his upper body from being hurt.

Trisk returned her saber to her belt and began watching for any sign of danger while Meric tended to his target. He sustained a few minor injuries, nothing some Kolto could cure. He would possibly need some time in a Baca tank, but he would live.

"Hey," Meric slapped his hand across Trokl's face, waking him. "We need to leave. Now."

The Chiss man blinked for a moment, gaining focus on the situation. "How did you? This is a Wampa cave."

"The Wampa is out right now." Meric explained. "But that won't last long if we don't leave."

Meric forced him to his feet as he continue to ask questions. "Why?"

"I was paid to find you." He stated bluntly.

"Meric!" Trisk's voice pulled his attention to her.

A Wampa had entered the cave and was charging at her. Instinctively, he pushed Trokl to the side, out of sight of the beast, and pulled his blaster to fire. He fired several shots, each hitting a part of the beast, but it wasn't enough to stop it.

The Wampa slashed at Trisk, causing her to have to jump out of the way. It's clawed hands caught her scarf and ripped it away from her face. Jumping over it with the help of the Force she maneuvered to an ideal spot to attack. Raising her hand, she Force Pushed the creature into one of the ice walls. This allowed Meric to take several more shots above the beast, collapsing the ice above. The solid material fell onto the beast, incapacitating it.

Trisk wasted no time to run over and grab her father, guiding him out of the cave. They ran out of the cave, making a straight line to the Tawn Tawn they had left at a safer location. Once the animals were in sight, they slowed down. The distance was far enough that they could relax a little.

Trisk offered her Tawn Tawn to Trokl while Meric mounted his. She grabbed the reigns of her mount and began to guide it back to the base. For a while they rode in silence. The former Jedi was certain her father recognized her. But he didn't say anything. As she promised Meric, she said nothing as well. That part of her life had been far behind her. Her curiosity on him had been satisfied.

He looked older than she remembered, as she got a better look at him. There were a few wrinkles on his face, but they were minimal. He looked mostly the same. Though she didn't admit it to herself, deep down she had hoped he would at least acknowledge her. Even just say her name once more, but he didn't. She was no longer his daughter.

"You were paid to retrieve me." Trokle broke the silence. "What for, specifically?"

Meric called back. "There's a Commander that wishes to speak to you. They didn't give me any details as to what for."

"What now?" He asked.

Meric stopped his Tawn Tawn and looked back at the man. "I'm taking you to the Imperial Base. There they will arrange for transport to take you to this Commander's ship. After that, I don't know. My contract is complete. My partner and I will move on to our next job."

He was trying to direct his target's attention towards Trisk, hoping he would talk to her. He wanted her to have some resolution in this whole ordeal with her family. He wanted her to be happy. But Trokl didn't even try to look at her. His pride was stopping him from acknowledging his own daughter.

The Chiss man was infuriating the Mandalorian. Meric called to his friend. "Trisk."

She handed the reigns to her father before walking up to Meric. He had stepped off of his Tawn Tawn and stood in front of her. She held a confused look as he handed her the reigns of his mount.

"Use mine," he commanded. "Snow's softer up ahead. I'll follow with my pack."

She nodded and mounted the beast. Silence followed the rest of the ride as they returned to the base. Trisk lifted up her hood as they got closer to the base and ducked her head down. She didn't know what her father would do. He could expose her as a Force User, or he could not mention anything. It was an unknown in the whole situation.

They dismounted the Tawn Tawns, and Meric guided his target to the officers. "He has a few injuries. The cave he took shelter in was a Wampa den."

"We will be sure he is cared for." One of the officers reassured. "We are working on transferring the credits to your system now."

Meric nodded.

"Mandalorian." Trokl called to him. "Thank you, for saving me."

Meric nodded and noticed how Trokl's eyes made a glance at his daughter, as if to say thank you to her as well. Meric turned to leave, but stopped short. He was ticked off at this man. Trokl had done nothing with Trisk. He didn't even speak to her. And in the end, all she gets is a glance?

Turning around, he slammed his fist into the jaw of the man. Trokl stumbled back into several Officers preventing him from falling over.

Meric shook his fist, "Be grateful that's the only injury you're getting from me."

The Mandalorian turned around and grabbed Trisk's arm and guided her back to the Vanguard. They walked onto the ship, and Meric pulled her to the cockpit. He had her sit down in the co-pilots seat while he began the take off process. She could tell he was angry, and so she didn't fight against him.

Pip crawled up Meric's chair. Before he could get too close to the angered Mandalorian, Trisk reached over and grabbed him. She held him close while Meric took off and they made their way to space. This side of Meric scared her.

After a period in space, Meric slowed the ship to a float in the darkness. Meric leaned back in his chair and let out a sigh. Pulling off his helmet, he placed it down on the console. Staring out to the stars, he let out a growl and threw the closest item at the window.

Trisk had slowly curled into a ball on the chair, holding her droid close to her. The whole thing had frightened her. She had never seen Meric like this before.

Meric glanced over at her and noticed her fright. His face softened, and his fists relaxed. Standing up, he reached over to her, causing her to flinch away. His hand retracted quickly. His lips pinched together, and without saying anything else, he left the cockpit and went to his room on the ship. He needed to be alone, and he didn't want to scare her anymore.

Time passed, and Trisk was able to calm herself. She wanted to check on her friend. Though she didn't want to intrude on him. She walked up to the door and lifted her hand.

Lightly knocking, she called to him. "Meric?"

Silence.

"Meric, do you want to talk?"

Again, only silence.

She sighed. "Meric, I'm sorry. I don't know what happened, but I want to help in any way I can."

The door opened, and Meric looked down at her with a solemn face. With one arm, he pulled her against him and hugged her. Her heart leaped to her throat. He held her there for a while while he pulled together his thoughts.

"You shouldn't be the one apologizing." He explained. "I am to blame. Seeing your father treat you as he did caused me to loose my temper. You did nothing wrong, but it angered me to see that he didn't even acknowledge you."

"I had a feeling that was going to happen." She answered. "I prepared myself for it."

"It's still not right."

"That's true." She said while placed a hand on his back. "But it's part of life."

"He didn't even talk to you."

She pulled away. "I'm an estranged person to him now. He doesn't see a purpose to talk to me."

Meric stared into her eyes. He had a lot still going on his head. She could see that as well.

"There's more going on, isn't there?" She reached up and touched his cheek.

His arm dropped and he walked away from her. He stopped in the middle of the corridor and looked out at the stars again. Scratching the back of his head, he debated whether to tell her or not.

"Is it the same stuff you were going though on Hoth?" She asked.

He stopped and dropped his arm. "You sure you can't use the Force on me? Because I can't hide anything from you."

"I just can read my friends well." She smiled.

He let out a chuckle. "That sounds like you."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He looked back at her. "I guess you could say I'm conflicted with myself. All the prejudice you encountered through all your life, I use to have those prejudices. I had them when I first met you. I hated Jedi and saw them only as the killers of my people during a massacre many years ago. I looked down on Jedi because all I saw as an outdated grudge on Jedi who had already died. And I hate that I was so close minded."

Trisk listened carefully and took a moment to think things over. "But you changed." She confirmed. "You don't have those ideals anymore. And you've done a lot for me since then. I think you need to look past this and see that you have changed for the better. I don't see anything wrong with you. For one, you were willing to see past those prejudices and change, when my own father couldn't even do that. You've surpassed the majority of the people in the know galaxy."

He watched her as she explained and didn't say anything when she finished. Her sudden confidence dropped as she registered more of what she said ducked her head slightly.

"Does that help?" She asked.

He smiled. "Yeah. It does. Thanks."

"Glad to help." She returned his smile.


	11. Chapter 11

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 11

Trokl had been taken from Hoth and was currently on a shuttle to an Imperial Command ship. He didn't know this Commander, but he was wanted alive for a reason. Once the shuttle arrived at the large Command Ship, he was guided to the Commander's office.

His eyes widened once he saw who it was. The larger man had his back turned to him, and his office was decorated with many different trophies that he had gained over the years.

"It's an honor to have you aboard my ship, sir." The Commander complimented. "I hope this time together will allow for a strong alliance between the Empire and the Chiss Ascendancy."

"The Chiss already side with the Empire." Trokl commented. "What more do you need?"

The Commander's head turned slightly. "We do have aid of your military forces, yes. But we would like to have use of some of your people's resources. Technology, schismatics, tactics, those will help our battle against the Rebels."

"If I may ask," Trisk's father continued. "Why don't you do that yourself?"

He turned and walked to the side of his desk. "I already have. But seeing I am no longer welcome on Csilla, or any other Chiss occupied worlds, I wish to have a more cooperative alliance between us."

Trokl looked around the room, thinking. "What do you wish me to do?"

The Commander smiled. "Simple, use your influence to convince your leaders to provide what I ask."

"Fine."

"Good." The Commander's smile broadened. "That is all."

Trokl turned to leave, but the Commander called back to him. "You have a family, yes?"

He turned back to him. "Yes, my wife, two daughters and a son."

"You had three daughters at one point." He challenged. "What ever happened to the third?"

"I only have two daughters." Trokl confirmed.

The Commander's red eyes glanced at the man. "Why do you lie to me?"

"I do not lie." He countered. "I only tell you the basic truth. I don't trust giving any further details to one who was exiled from the home world."

The Commander's mouth went up in a crooked grin. "It is true now that you only have two daughters, but if the records serve me right, your Eldest was exiled as well. Estranged by her own family. A shame that our people are too proud to even care for one of our own."

"That was a long time ago."

"And yet, you still don't regret that decision." His grin fell to a frown. "I was told that the Bounty Hunter we hired had an assistant with him."

Trokl hesitated. "He did."

"A Chiss woman."

Trisk's father remained silent.

"Did you know her?"

He didn't respond.

A small smile came to the Commander's face. "That tells me all I need. You may go now, sir."

Trokl bowed his head and walked out of the room.

The red eyed Commander looked at his desk. His smile remained as he looked at one of his trophies. A Jedi Temple Guard Mask. He now had a clue of where the Jedi he was looking for was. He just needed to bide his time.

"All good things," he reminded himself. "To those who wait."


	12. Chapter 12

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 12

Trisk was laughing, hard. Meric had never seen her bust a gut so thoroughly. He didn't know why his comment on Tawn Tawns cracked her up so completely, but he liked seeing her smile. He was even chuckling with her.

Unexpectedly, while she inhaled on a breath, a snort came with her laugh. She suddenly stopped and covered her mouth, a blush rising to her cheeks. Meric's eyes widened. His chest began to shake as he held in laughter.

"Are you laughing at me?" She yelled. He couldn't hold back his enjoyment after that. His laugh filled the room. "Yes, I snort when I laugh hard. Is that so funny?"

Once Meric got control of himself again, he held up a finger. "One, it's the first time I heard you laugh that hard. So, I can't help myself but laugh with you. Two, there's nothing wrong with your laugh. Three, I think it's kinda cute."

Her expression changed from one of embarrassment to surprise at his comment. The blush meant something different after that. He simply smiled at her. It had been a while since his contract to retrieve her father from Hoth, and during that time he had began to notice more things about his friend.

He noticed how she seemed to shy away from him when he was close. He noticed how she would cuddle into herself when sleeping. He noticed how she seemed to have a little sorrow always in her eyes. He noticed small things that he never took note of before. And after hearing her laugh, he knew why he was paying so much attention to her, and how she didn't often leave his thoughts.

A sudden alert of emergency entered the ship, causing both to jump up and run to the holoterminal. Pressing a few buttons, Meric answered the distress call.

"Meric!" Another Mandalorian responded once he connected. "Thank Mandalore, we need your help."

"Vata," Meric called back. "What's wrong?"

It looked like she dodged a blast before she continued. "Our group was hired to gather any Khyber Crystals we could find on Jedha. Apparently, we got on Imperial Intelligence's radar, and now we have several squadrons of Operatives attacking us. I'm retreating to camp, but we are rotating in groups on the attack so they don't get too close. Meric, I want you involved because we don't have a way off this planet."

"How many are in your group?" He asked urgently.

She looked around. "Not much more, they did a number on us, but I think we can fit everyone on your ship. But I also would like your input. If there is a chance of us winning this, you would know how."

"On our way." He responded.

Ending the call, he and Trisk ran to the cockpit and took off towards Jedha. A feeling of panic entered Meric's chest as he thought of his friends in danger. He hoped that they would make it in time to save them. He wanted to at least give them a fighting chance.

"Do you know Jedha?" He asked Trisk while he engaged the hyperdrive.

She looked over at him. "I remember learning about it. I've never been there. It's a desert moon that's described to have an eternal winter. It's one of the first places to have had Force Sensitives. Many Force Users went there to learn. But since then, battle of the planet with the Empire has caused it to be a wasteland. The old civilization there is long gone, and anything left is just dust. People still live there, but they are mainly passing through. Tourism, I guess."

"Khyber Crystals come from there?" He asked.

"It was one of the originators of the Khyber Crystal for our Sabers, but it's not the only planet." She explained. "I guess the Imperials don't want anyone taking the Crystals they stole."

This allowed Meric a little chuckle in a time of worry. He was glad that Trisk was around to help him. And he wanted her along. Her defensive fighting style would help them at this time.

"You're coming with me." He told her. "I'll need you in order to give them a chance."

She nodded. "I'll be glad to help."

They remained in silence the rest of the flight to Jedha, focusing on the task at hand. Meric had a lot going on in his head though. Along with worry for his friends, he worried about Trisk. He didn't know if the other Mandalorians would be accepting of her. As well as, he worried that with Imperial Intelligence there, they could make it known she was traveling with him, making her an easy target. Find him, and anyone could find her. There were a lot of unknowns happening in this whole situation that he didn't like. But he couldn't see into the future, and so all he could do was prepare for the worst.

They pulled out of hyperspace and found themselves facing Jedha. Meric entered in the location of where his friends were and made his way onto the moon. The ship flew in close to the surface and landed a short distance from the camp. Without hesitation, Meric put on his helmet and Trisk placed her sabers on her belt, and they went out to the camp.

The sounds of blaster fire was in the distance. Looking around the small camp, Meric took in the sight of his fellow Mandalorians. Several were injured and were receiving medical care in one tent, while there were others that were resting. Some were practicing their targeting, but Meric couldn't see Vata.

A larger tent was set in the center of the camp. Assuming it was the commanding center, he went in with Trisk following. When the tent flap opened, he was greeted by the faces of Vata and several other leaders of the group. Once Trisk entered, all of them pulled their blasters and aimed them at her.

Meric stepped in front. "It's okay. She's with me."

All of the collectively let out a breath of relief and went back to the holomap of the area. Vata began to explain the situation. "It's only a matter of time before they surround us. There's something here that the Imperials don't want us to see. And apparently our employer decided that it wasn't worth mentioning that we would be this close to their project."

Meric stepped to the table. "Tell me what you can."

Vata pointed at a nearby structure. "We were told that the Khyber Crystals we needed to obtain were in this building, but once we entered, the Imperial Intelligence Operatives attacked. I don't know how they found out we were coming, but they do not want us in that ruin."

"It's not just a ruin." Trisk jumped in, her arms crossed. "That's a Jedi Temple. One that was specifically for Khyber Crystals. Harvesting, training, building, anything dealing with the use of a Khyber Crystal."

They were silent for a moment. One of the other leaders spoke up. "I can see why you brought her."

Meric smiled under his helmet. "She's also an excellent fighter."

"Anyway," Vata interrupted. "Do you know why they would be guarding this Temple like a stronghold?"

Trisk brought her hand to her chin. "They Crystal here are different from most found in the galaxy. Because this place was one of the first to really have the Force become apart of everyone's life, it was often thought that these crystals were stronger in the Force than any other place. I don't know if it's true, but I wouldn't brush it off as a possibility."

Meric listened intently as she talked. Vata had one more question for her. "What are the possibilities of them hiding something there?"

"The Temple is very large, so I would think it's very likely." Trisk confirmed.

"I want to find out what their hiding." Vata stated. "If we are able to keep the majority of the troops occupied, a small infiltration team can get in there, get some Crystals, and find out what they are hiding. Meric, myself, and the Chiss will be that team. You keep them occupied. We won't have much time before Red Eye comes."

Meric froze. "Red Eye is coming?"

Vata nodded.

"We don't have time to do an infiltration, once she's here then this won't be a battle anymore. It will be a massacre." He challenged. "We need to evacuate."

"As well as it will take longer than you think to even get out of the temple with all you want to find." Trisk added. "We don't know what they are hiding, as well as if it is something large. We could be on a wild chase searching for something that doesn't even exist."

"I am not leave without those Crystals." Vata commanded. "Fine, we don't have to look for what they are hiding, but I need those Crystals. I'll have anyone who isn't fighting prepare the evacuation. Once we are done in the Temple, we book it to Meric's ship with everyone else. With any luck, Red Eye will arrive only to see the remains of the camp."

Meric growled, but didn't argue against her. She was stubborn. Meric knew that from when they were little. Turning to Trisk, he motioned for her to follow. They made their way out of the tent to prepare. Sitting down he pulled off his helmet and set it to the side. Trisk stood in front of him.

Grabbing her hand, Meric looked into her red eyes. "I know we are doing this together, but I still want you to be careful. After this, Imperials will know that you were with a Mandalorian, and there's a chance of them coming after us. Plus, you may be really good a defense, but even I know that ambushing you would take you down."

"I'll be careful." She promised. "But you have to do the same."

He nodded.

"Who were they talking about?" She asked.

"What?"

"Red Eye," she clarified. "Who's that?"

Meric looked down at their joined hands. Stroking the back of hers with his thumb he answered. "Ysanne Isard."


	13. Chapter 13

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 13

Trisk's eyes widened. Though she never had seen the Director of Imperial Intelligence, she had heard of her. This was a woman that no one wanted to go against. She was ruthless and always got a job done. They were in for a difficult job if she showed up before they could complete the evacuation.

"Meric!" Vata called to them. "We need to go. The rest of our people will push an attack to distract the forces while we go into the Temple."

Trisk and Meric went over to Vata and followed her a back way to the Temple. They avoided the majority of the battle and soon found themselves close to the entrance of the Temple. Vata lifted her blaster to shoot the guards, but Trisk placed her hand on it.

"That won't be necessary." Trisk explained. "We need stealth, and blaster fire will call the reinforcements."

Lifting her hand, Trisk used the Force, causing them to fall unconscious. They ran through the entrance and found another hiding spot while they figured out where to go next. Meric signaled them to wait while he scouted another good area.

"He seems to trust you." Vata commented, while Trisk waited for Meric's return.

Trisk glanced back. "You think?"

Vata chuckled. "I've known Meric since we were both very small. Once you gained his trust, he's loyal to you to the very end."

"Sounds like a true Mandalorian." Trisk smiled.

"Meric always had a high standard of honor." Vata stated. "I will admit it was strange to see him come with a Jedi."

Trisk sighed. "I'm not a Jedi anymore."

"It doesn't matter what you are," the Mandalorian stated. "If Meric trusts you, I trust you."

Trisk silently thanked her while her eyes kept a look out for her friend. He had been gone a while and was beginning to worry. She leaned against the wall, waiting for any sign of him.

"You never told me your name." Vata observed.

"Trisk." The Chiss said as she looked back at her.

"Usually, Chiss names are longer than that."

Trisk looked back out to the hall. "I was stripped of my house name and family name when I was exiled from Csilla. Chiss people don't sympathize with Force Sensitives."

"I'm sorry." Vata's voice sounded of real sympathy.

Trisk's eyes went down to the ground. "It was a long time ago."

A whistle caught Trisk's attention, Meric stood around a corner, signaling them to follow. They ran over to him and entered another empty room. Once they were in, Meric watched and waited. And alert went off, causing Trisk and Vata to take a fighting stance. Meric held up his hand. A large number of troopers ran past the room. Once they were out of sight, Meric ran out of the room and pressed a large button that closed the door behind them. Taking his blaster, he shot the button, hoping it would give them some time.

Trisk's hands went to her hips. "You planned for that didn't you?"

Meric ran passed her, shrugging his shoulders while he ran backwards. "As far as I can tell, it was a good plan."

"You could have warned us." Trisk countered as she caught up to them.

"What fun is that?" He stated with a joking tone.

"You do know there's a button on the other-side, right?" Vata explained.

This caused Meric's victory smile to falter a bit. "Then we better hurry."

Vata nodded and ran off. Trisk and Meric followed behind.

They stopped when they caught up to Vata, who was looking around, confused. "This place is a maze, I don't know where to find the Crystals."

Trisk smiled. "Most Temples are very similar in structure. I think I can figure out where any remaining Khyber Crystals are."

Trisk began to lead the way as she started to figure out the layout of the Temple.

Vata whispered to Meric. "Why does she know the temple layout so well?"

"Trisk was a Temple Guard for the Jedi Temple on Coruscant." He stated simply.

Vata noticed how his helmet focused on Trisk. She could tell his eyes were focused on her well being. She smiled under her helmet. This was the first time she had seen Meric like this. Before, he had no interest in a relationship with anyone. 'Maybe in the future,' he always had said. She was happy to see that he found someone who he could be happy with.

_She's no longer a Jedi, so why shouldn't she feel the same? _She thought as she watched the two.

"She's cute." Vata commented quietly as they followed Trisk.

Meric's helmet turned slightly to her. "Trying to play matchmaker?"

"Always. I've known you long enough to know that if someone has caught your interest, they are someone special." She told him.

"That obvious, huh?"

"I could tell because we've been friends since children." She stated. "I don't think she knows yet."

A sigh left Meric's chest. "It's going to be interesting."

"And why is that?" She asked.

"She's lived the life of a Jedi since she was really young." He clarified. "Though she doesn't consider herself a Jedi anymore, she's skeptical to get anywhere close to a romantic relationship. She explained to me that those forms of attachments can lead to the Dark Side of the Force, which she doesn't want."

"Why does it have to be absolute?" Vata determined. "Why can't she be Gray?"

Meric was silent for a moment. "I didn't really think about it. This is more of her choice anyway."

"Get down!" Trisk's voice shouted to them as her sabers lit up.

She began to block the shots coming from some turret defenses that the Imperials had set up. Moving quickly, she used her sabers to deflect the fire back at the turrets and destroying them. Trisk let out a breath and switched off her sabers, returning them to her belt.

"You okay?" She turned and checked on her friends.

Meric nodded and motioned for her to continue. She turned and lead them to another room. The room was empty.

"Why are we here?" Vata asked.

"This is where the Khyber Crystals would be held. Looks like it's mostly been picked clean." Trisk stated. "But, I can get you as much as I can find."

Vata was about to ask how she was going to do that, but Meric lifted a hand. They stood back and watched as the former Jedi lifted a hand and closed her eyes. For a while, nothing happened. Trisk's head turned from side to side, searching for the feeling of the Force activating anything. After some more time passed, bits and particles began to float up. Larger items began to float and gather together.

After some time, a large amount of Khyber Crystals gathered. Placing the Crystals next to Vata, Trisk relaxed. She stumbled, Meric moved over and caught her. She looked up at him and gave him a small smile.

"I'll be okay," she explained. "That just took more than expected."

He helped her stand up straight. "Maybe you should rest for a while."

"It's okay, give me a few minutes." She reassured.

Vata had been filling one of her bags with the Crystals. Once she got all of them, she stood and went over to them.

"Alright, we better get moving." She stated. "I think Meric may have sealed us in with that stunt though."

Trisk rubbed eyes. "There's another way out. We will take the way that I took from the Coruscant Temple."

They began their journey through the lower parts of the Temple. Though the alarm caused the majority of the troopers to leave, it was safe to assume there would be more deeper in. They walked down a passage of stairs. Several voices caused Trisk to stop, signaling the others to wait.

"Nervous the Director is coming?" A trooper asked one next to him.

The Storm Trooper turned to the other. "Wouldn't you be? Haven't you heard the rumor of her killing her own father to get his position?"

Silently walking behind them, Trisk tapped on their helmets. They turned and looked at her. She gave them a smile as they lifted their blasters at her.

"Hi." She said plainly before using the Force to knock them out.

"Oh, and I was showing off?" Meric asked sarcastically.

She raised and eyebrow. "Well, yes. But I do it better."

He smiled under his helmet and shook his head while they followed her deeper in the Temple. They still had a while before they could make it out. And time was ticking.


	14. Chapter 14

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 14

The three were moving at a jogging pace, trying to get out of there as soon as they could. They met little resistance, but it was getting worse the further they went. Security was priority in this Temple for the Imperials.

They ran into a room, finding that it had several Agents. A battle broke out. The Imperials fired upon the group, but Trisk's fast reflexes allowed her to pull out her sabers and guard her friends while they took out the opposition. Once the Agents were defeated, Trisk was able to relax. The group looked around the room and found that it was relatively new to the Temple. A lot of technology had been brought it, and it seemed that the Imperials had several projects here.

There were calculations on multiple screens, each providing data for a different situation. But the one that was priority in what they could see was the calculations needed to destroy a planet. This caused them to freeze as they observed the calculations. Trisk looked over the other projects and found that somehow they were all connected. The whole room was dedicated to one solitary plan.

"We need to keep moving." Meric stated.

Trisk grabbed his arm. "Wait, we can't let them continue this. Billions could die, possibly trillions if they get this type of technology to work."

"This isn't our war." Vata explained. "We can prepare for it, but we otherwise need to stay neutral."

Trisk stared at them. "But we are talking about so many lives being taken out the blink of an eye! If they wanted, they could turn that on you, and you wouldn't be able to stop it."

"Trisk," Meric placed a hand on her shoulder. "We can't do much anyway. They could redo these calculations. They are determined enough that they would just start again. All we would do is delay them."

"We have to go." Vata stated.

Trisk finally nodded in agreement and began to follow them. Vata was the first to run out of the room. A loud blast came from down the hall, and Vata let out a shout of pain and fell to the ground.

"Vata!" Trisk shouted and ran out to her.

Before she could check on her, she had to pull out one of her sabers and deflected another blast. She looked over and pulled out her other saber. A woman in red stood there, aiming her blaster at them.

Her red and blue eyes glared at them as she prepared to fire another shot.

"I thought she wasn't here yet." Meric said as he dropped down next to his friend.

"Get Vata out of here." Trisk stated, her eyes not leaving Ysanne's. "Follow that passage, and it will take you out of the Temple. I'll follow as soon as I can."

"Trisk," Meric's voice indicated worry.

"Just go!" She demanded. "I'll catch up."

He was hesitant, but he picked up his fallen friend and began to run down the corridor. Trisk's watched as she waited for Ysanne to act. She held a fighting stance. Silence filled the area.

Ysanne let out a small laugh. "Thought we had all of you killed. Or you joined the Emperor."

"I'd die before I'd join the Empire." Trisk said through gritted teeth.

The red and blue eyes seemed to sparkle at her comment. "Then I will enjoy making that true."

The Director of Intelligence fired off several shots, Trisk blocked the shots and advanced on her. The fight continued as Trisk blocked more shots from Ysanne. Running against the wall, Trisk jumped up a slashed down at the Imperial.

Ysanne dodged the attack and fired another shot. It grazed across her leg, causing her to let out a grunt and rolled to the side before blocking another shot. She raised her hand and pulled the blaster out of Ysanne's grasp, and crushed it.

Pushing her hand out, she used the Force to push her into the wall behind her. She was pinned there while Trisk stood back up. Limping over, she held Ysanne there.

"You think this makes a difference?" Ysanne challenged. "This just makes it so you have a target on your head."

Trisk let out a sigh. "I've lived with a target on my head almost all my life."

"Then," Ysanne had a small smile. "You wouldn't flinch over the fact that he knows who you are traveling with. He'll find you soon enough."

"Let him," Trisk glared. "I escaped him once, I can do it again."

"But," Ysanne was playing with her head. "Can you do that while protecting your Mandalorian."

Trisk was silent. She wasn't going to satisfy her with an answer.

"Are you going to kill me then?" She asked.

She looked into her eyes. "I am not like you. I will not stoop so low."

She squeezed her hand into a fist, causing Ysanne to fall unconscious. Trisk dropped her to the ground before looking back at the research room. Lifting both her hands, the room began to shake as she used the Force to tear it apart. Though it may only delay the Imperials, a delay was better than nothing. Focusing on the weak points of the supports, she used what strength she had to cause the room to collapse. Beads of sweat covered her brow, and the room collapsed. She turned and made her way out of the Temple. It took longer, but she was able to make it outside. The area had began to look like a war zone. Trisk kept a saber drawn to deflect any shots taken at her.

"Trisk!"

Looking up, she saw Meric running towards her. He stopped just in front of her and noticed her limp. Seeing the injury, he didn't hesitate to pick her up and carry her back to the Vanguard. When the remaining Mandalorians saw Meric making his way to the ship with Trisk they began a retreat. It was time to leave Jedha.


	15. Chapter 15

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 15

Once Meric was in his ship, he called to the cock pit. "Start take-off."

Carrying Trisk to the Medical Bay, he set her down on one of the beds. He placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it. Exhausted, Trisk laid back and relaxed. Meric turned to Vata, who was in the bed next to Trisks.

"I'm going to get you back to Mandalore," he explained. "I'll make sure you get home to Obru."

"Thank you, Meric." She said with a weak smile.

Meric left the room and made his way to the cock pit, taking over the controls and setting a course to his home world. The Mandalorian group had found comfortable arrangements while their journey took place. A Medic took care of Trisk's wound, applying Kolto and bandaging the wound.

The pain began to subside, and she was able to rest for a while. She looked over at Vata, seeing her condition was worse than her own. Trisk didn't know to what extent though.

"Thank you." Vata stated with a weak voice. "For helping my people get out of there, and saving me. You have proven to be a true warrior to my people, and that is something that won't be forgotten."

"I'm just glad we could get everyone out alive." She state.

Vata was silent. She remained silent the remainder of the trip to Mandalore. Trisk had nodded off and awoke once again when they landed. Meric joined them in the med bay, helping Trisk to her feet while several other Mandalorians helped Vata to a mobile bed. Placing a robe around her, Meric hid any Jedi related garb that Trisk wore.

Meric was a support to Trisk while she limped on the way to Vata's home. They were met by a taller man, named Obru, Vata's husband. He greeted them and allowed them into their home. Something felt off to Trisk, and she didn't like where it was going. They knew something she didn't.

Once in the home, Meric helped Trisk to sit down, while Vata's bed was placed in the center of the room. Meric sat down next to the former Jedi as they waited. Obru grabbed his wife's hand and squeezed it.

"Meric," Vata called. "Will you sing the song?"

"I'll be honest," he stated with a sorrowful smile. "I hoped this day wouldn't come."

It clicked in Trisk's mind. Vata was dying.

"It was bound to come someday." Vata explained. "I'll die a Warriors death. But before you sing, Trisk."

She looked into her eyes. "I'm here Vata."

"I couldn't have asked for a better Warrior to fight by my side during our time on Jedha. I am proud to call you sister." She stated. "Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'vod."

Meric's eyes widened. Trisk looked over at him. "What?"

"She just adopted you as her sister in the clan." He said with a sad smile. "You're a Mandalorian."

"Trisk," Vata called to her again. "My armor should fit you, please take it."

Trisk didn't want to accept, but she nodded her head, knowing it was an honor to have armor passed to her. Her heart broke while watching the amazing woman she had come to know slowly die in front of them.

"Ni kar'taylir darasuum." Vata said as she turned her head to her husband.

His free hand grasped their clasped ones, and he held them to his head. "Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum, Vata."

Meric whispered to Trisk. "It's a saying to remember them forever."

Trisk nodded.

Music filled the air as Meric's voice began to sing the song Vata requested. Trisk couldn't understand the words, but she knew it was coming from the heart. It sounded like a song that was shared between Vata and her husband, making the moment even more bittersweet.

"Ni kar'taylir darasuum, ogir's shi gar o'r ner kar'taylir. Haar shi jurir dral." He continued to sing through the lyrics, providing some peace to the sorrowful time. "Bal, elek gar'll cuyir haar shi cyare. Naasade nu draar ibic kar'taylir darasuum ni ganar runi. Bal ni dinuir bic an gar. Ni kar'taylir darasuum, ni kar'taylir darasuum, ni kar'taylir darasuum. Ni darasuum kar'taylir darasuum."

The song ended, and silence filled the room. Vata's eyes had drifted shut, and her final breath had passed. A feeling of mourning filled the room as each person gave a moment of silence for the fallen warrior. Meric stood first walking over, he placed a hand on his brother like friend.

"Aay'han," he confirmed.

Obru nodded. "I'll have her armor sent to you soon."

Trisk nodded and stood up. Carefully limping over to Meric, they made their way back to his ship. Taking off, they didn't travel too far from the planet before they let the ship just drift in silence. Trisk had several thoughts that went through her head. It was the first time she had heard Meric sing, and she didn't know he could sing. He had never mentioned it before. So, it was sort of shocking to hear that hidden talent.

She looked over at her friend. He was sitting in silence, staring off into space. Standing up, she walked over to his chair. Placing a hand on his shoulder, he turned to look at her. Sorrow filled his eyes, and a large breath exhaled from his nose.

Not knowing fully what to do, Trisk bent down and wrapped her arms around him. He returned her hug and stayed there. The time in her arms brought comfort to the Mandalorian. It was an occupational hazard for Mandalorians. It became part of the culture to simply enjoy the years they had together and once someone passed on, they would be remembered. There wasn't much else to do but remember them.

Watching his friend's death brought a sense of mortality in Meric's life, and he wanted to enjoy as much of it as he could. That meant no holding back. He didn't want to regret this time with Trisk. He simply wanted to spend all the time he had left with her. Whether that was as friends, or more, it depended on her.

"Trisk."

She pulled away and looked into his eyes. His arms remained around her waist while he gathered the courage to tell her what he needed to say. She was patient as he thought of how to put the words, but all he could do was be blunt.

"I know," he started. "You… fear having attachments in your life, because you don't want to fall to the Dark Side. But I have to tell you."

Trisk blinked, but she listened.

He let out a breath. "Ni kar'taylir darasuum. I love you."

Her eyes widened a bit.

"I don't want to force anything on you, but after everything that happened with Vata, I didn't want to live the rest of my life without telling you how I feel. But the choice is yours. Take your time and think things through. I'll wait." He explained.

Standing up, he let his hands slip off her form and he walked away. Trisk watched as he entered his room, and closed the door behind him. The sudden confession had caught her off guard. Confused on what to do, she sad down in silence. She didn't know what to do.

While trained as a Jedi, she had been taught that romantic attachments could lead to the Dark Side, but that was a big could. She had heard stories of Jedi falling in love and marrying. At first, she didn't really agree with the ideal the Jedi had taught her, but she chose to trust her masters.

Thinking about it, fear for a loved one could lead to the Dark Side if it was guided that way. Meric could care for himself. But if that fear was also guiding to protecting a loved one through rightful means, then the chances of falling became minimal.

Trisk had to push the lessons of the Jedi out of her mind. She was no longer a Jedi, what did she want? Meric had become her best friend since their time on Tatooine. But did she want more? He was important to her, but she didn't know how to act or what to do after what had happened.

Pip crawled up to her and hugged her hand. He let out some small beeps, as if asking if she was okay.

"I don't know what to do Pip." She explained.

A longer beep left him.

She placed a hand on the droid. "Meric told me he loves me."

Pip let out a startled squeal.

"Oh hush," she stated. "I just don't know how to react. I've lived most my life in a style that forbid romantic relationships. But deep down, I wanted to fall in love, I wanted to have a family. I guess that was me hoping for something better than my family."

The droid let out a string of beeps, ending in a questioned tone.

"You're right," She agreed. "He is very trustworthy, and he is leaving the choice to me. Maybe its time for me to start leaving behind the Jedi philosophy, and live my own life."

Pip squealed a happy tone.

"Glad you agree." She stated.


	16. Chapter 16

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 16

Trisk awoke later, finding Meric straightening his armor. He looked up and saw Trisk. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't," She stretched. "What's going on?"

He placed his blaster in his holster. "Mandalore has called. Separatists have attacked a Mandalorian occupied planet. When Mandalore calls, we answer. I'm going to go fight, but while I'm gone, take the Vanguard, and find someplace to lay low."

"Shouldn't I go as well?" She asked.

Meric hesitated to answer for a moment. "As much as I would like for you to join me, I don't think it would be a good idea. You haven't been recognized by Mandalore as a Mandalorian yet. And we don't want too many people to know where you are."

"Alright." She agreed.

She stood up and walked over to him. He stopped what he was doing and looked down at her. She let out a breath and grabbed the thermal detonators and attached them to his belt. Placing a hand on his arm, she looked into his eyes.

"Come back." She commanded.

He smiled. "I don't plan on dying any time soon."

"Good."

He reached up and caressed her cheek. "I'll be sure to call you on the terminal when I can."

She nodded. They parted and Meric sat down and piloted the ship toward their destination. After a while of flying, they arrived at the planet and landed the ship. Meric quickly said goodbye and exited the ship before anyone could see who he was with. Once he was gone, Trisk took the ship and flew to the further reaches of space, hiding on a desolate planet with low civilization. She didn't know how long it would be before she could see him again, but she was willing to wait.

About a week had passed since Meric went to battle. Trisk had fallen into a routine that she often used when she was on Voss. Often meditating, she found ways to keep herself busy. But she did often think about Meric and how he was doing, but she couldn't do much other than that.

The planet she stayed on for this time was filled with swamp and often had many green tones in it. She didn't check to see what the name of the planet was before she landed, but she didn't really care because she was only there for a temporary amount of time.

Beeping pulled her out of her meditation. The terminal blinked. Someone was calling the ship. She stood up and answered the call.

"This is the Vanguard," she answered.

"Trisk," a familiar voice responded. "Sorry, the camera's here are broken, so all you're getting the audio."

"That's alright, Meric. I'm just glad that I can hear your voice again." She said with a smile.

"Guys!" A new voice enter the call. "Meric is talking to his cyare!"

A sudden explosion of voices came over the call. Many different questions were fired at her, and she couldn't hear the majority of them.

One shout caused them all to shut up. "All of you shut your traps!"

"I'm guessing those are your brothers?" Trisk called.

She heard a sigh come from her friend. "My clan brothers, yes. I'm sorry Trisk, I told them about you, but they seem to think we are more than friends. Even though I never said that."

His last sentence was directed more at his friends around him. She laughed, but it was obvious that they weren't listening.

"So, Trisk," one Mandalorian called out. "How did you two meet?"

"He tried to shoot me." She answered.

A chorus of voices let out understanding words.

"Classic Mandalorian love story." One said.

Another person jumped in. "Why aren't you here with us?"

"Meric wanted to keep me safe," she said. "I'm highly targeted in the galaxy. As well as I'm not fully recognized as a Mandalorian."

"She was adopted?" the Mandalorian asked Meric.

"Vata adopted her as her sister in the clan when she was dying." Meric explained. "Can you guys leave? I just want to talk to Trisk. Alone."

"Fine," another said. "But we better get an opportunity to meet her in the future."

A short little bit passed before Meric spoke again. "Sorry about that. They've been waiting to jump in on any of my calls just to talk to you."

"It's okay," Trisk stated. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay. Fighting has been low, but it's there." He reassured. "This battle is more for retaining the territory until the Separatists leave. How's your wound?"

She looked at her leg. "A lot better. I'm not having to limp anymore."

"Speaking of which," he thought. "How did she hit you? When I couldn't."

"I couldn't read her." Trisk stated. "Most people give of a bit of a… Vibe, as I'll call it, as to what they were going to do. She gave nothing. No emotions or anything. She had no remorse over her actions, and didn't care. She was probably one of the hardest people I had to battle."

"Who was your hardest?" Meric asked.

Trisk thought back. "His name is Mitth'raw'nuruodo. A Commander in the Imperial Military. A few years after Order Sixty-Six, he found me and tried to convince me to join the Empire. When I refused, he had my camp attacked. I escaped, but had to leave almost everything behind. Including my Temple Guard uniform."

"You couldn't read him?" He asked.

"That's the thing, I could read him." She responded. "Too well, and that's what threw me off. He was so confident in what he was going to do, that he didn't care if I could block it or counter against it. He knew what he was doing and he was going to win. The only safe option for me was to escape and find a new hiding spot."

Meric was silent for a while, thinking about what she had said. "Does he know your alive?"

"I'm certain he does." She answered. "It wouldn't surprise me if he was still looking for me. I guess I intrigue him."

"Why?"

"Because we are both Chiss who were wronged by our people." Her head rested on her chin. "He sees us as similar, so he thinks we should work together. I don't think he'll stop until he knows I'm dead."

His voice came through in a worried tone. "I know you can take care of yourself, but do you think he can find you right now?"

"I didn't even check what planet I'm on. I don't even know if there's a city here." She admitted. "I'm in a very swampy area. That's all I know."

"Alright," he sounded relieved. "But don't hesitate to leave that planet if you need to. I don't know how much longer I'll be here, but hopefully I'll be able to return soon."

"Don't worry about me, Meric." She said with a smile. "I'll be fine."

"Alright," he agreed. "About the cyare stuff from my clan..."

"I don't know what cyare means."

"It mean's beloved." He stated. "I'm sorry about that. Once they heard that I was traveling with someone, they assumed that we were together."

"Meric, it's alright." Trisk stopped him. "Don't worry about that. All I want you to worry about right now is you getting back here in one piece."

He was silent for a bit. "Deal. I should probably go, next shift is coming soon."

"Okay, goodbye Meric."

"I'll talk to you soon… cyare." He said lovingly before ending the call.


	17. Chapter 17

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 17

Several months passed since Meric had left to fight with his Mandalorian brothers. He would call Trisk as often as he could to check in on her and update her on anything happening. Several times, other Mandalorians would join in the call and get to know her. His clan had grown to love her much like another family member, and they would constantly demand that he bring her to the next Mandalorian celebration.

Whenever he couldn't call her, he would try to send her a message instead. Every once and a while he would also add in some lyrics of a song he thought she would like. Some of the messages also included small lessons in Mando'a. He explained to her that it was part of the Mandalorian six central tenets, and he offered to teach it to her so she could understand more of the culture.

"This battle is going longer than I thought." Meric told Trisk over another call. "I thought I would have been back by now."

"This is important to your people." She explained. "It's okay."

He let out a chuckle. "I just want to come home."

"N'epar nu pirur." She stated.

"Someone's been practicing." He said with a smile.

Trisk let out a laugh. "Well, if I'm going to be a Mandalorian, I need to know the language."

Meric was silent for a moment.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Truthfully," he stated. "I didn't know if you wanted to be a Mandalorian."

"Well," Trisk stated while tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "It's nice not only to be part of a big family, but to be wanted there too. I figured it was time for me to be part of something."

Meric smiled. "You'll always have a family with us."

"I miss you." She admitted.

"You should be able to come pick me up soon." He told her.

She opened her mouth to respond, but a sudden alert called to her attention. She stood up and pulled up some systems to see what was going on.

"Trisk?" Meric called to her. "What's wrong?"

"I've been found." She stated. "I need to go. I'll call you or message you as soon as I'm safe."

"Tri-" Meric's call was cut off.

She ran over to the cockpit and began the take off sequence. To be safe, she activated the shields and worked on leaving the swamps of the planet. She needed to find a new hiding place. Once she was in the air, she saw who was attacking her.

"How did he find me?" She asked.

A large Imperial Command ship fired on her while she maneuvered the ship to safety. Once she was in space, she activated the hyper-drive and blasted into the black abyss of space. She continued like that for several moments before coming to a stop. She let out a breath and opened the galaxy map. The closest planet was Odessen. Taking the chance, she flew the Vanguard to the planet and landed in the dense forest.

She let out a breath and relaxed back in her chair, feeling a little safer. Standing back up, she went over to the terminal and called Meric back. The call didn't connect, so she sent a message to let him know she was safe. She would wait for him to call her.

After a few moments, he called her again. "Trisk? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I managed to get away, for a while." She said with a tired voice. "I guess staying in one place too long is bad for my health."

Meric let out a breath. "Move the Vanguard as often as you need. Where are you now?"

"I'm almost afraid to say," She stated. "I don't know if they somehow are listening in on these calls."

"There's a stealth generator on the ship. If anything, it should hide the Vanguard from any scanners." He explained.

"Alright," She said while standing back up to activate it. Once she found it, she turned it on and heard the generator hum to life. Going back to the console, she let out a breath. "That should slow him down."

"Who found you?" he asked.

She rubbed her eyes. "Remember that man I told you about?"

"The one who was confident in how he was going to beat you? Yeah."

Trisk let out another sigh. "He hasn't stopped looking for me. He found out that I'm traveling with you. So, he's probably going to be a problem in the future."

"Haar'chak." He whispered.

"Colorful language you have there." She stated.

"There is a down side to you understanding this language." He countered. "But don't worry too much. Once I'm done here, we'll keep moving."

"We can't run forever."

"Trisk, I'm not losing you to this guy." Meric shouted.

She collapsed into a chair and didn't say anything for a while. "You aren't going to lose me, Meric. But sometime we will have to confront him. He won't stop until I either join the Empire, or I'm dead."

"You aren't going to die."

"Meric..." She sighed.

Silence continued for a while between the two. Trisk rubbed her eyes. She didn't want to fight him, but he was being difficult. And it didn't sound like Meric to say all he was going to do was run.

"Meric," she started. "The you I know wouldn't run from a situation like this. What's so different now?"

He waited to answer. "Before now, all I had to worry about was myself. I'm terrified that one of these days, I'll call you, and no one will answer. Trisk, you mean everything to me."

Trisk sat silently while he talked. She took some time to think about what to say. He was silent as well, waiting for her response. She already knew his feelings, so she expected as much. But she wanted to make sure her point of view was known.

"You need to trust me." She stated.

"I do."

She continued. "I need you to trust me, Meric. What we can do, is go where we are needed. Help those who need it, but we are not running away. That's not the Mandalorian I know. If we have each others backs, we can, and will, defeat him. But I can't do that in confidence if all I get from you is a shield protecting me like an Ice Crystal from Ilum. I know you care for me, but I need you to also allow me to take the risks I was trained to fight against."

Meric was silent for a while. "You're right. I'm sorry. I'm just more worried when I'm not there to be backup."

"You will be soon enough." Trisk reassured. "I have a feeling that this will be over soon."


	18. Chapter 18

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 18

Another month passed for Trisk and Meric, and at long last, Meric was able to return to his ship and the former Jedi. Having received her location earlier, he planned to surprise her upon his return. Some of his Mandalorian Clan Family willingly transported him from the battle to Odessen to meet back up with his partner. Though they never admitted it, he knew they were eager to meet the person who he wouldn't shut up about.

They had landed a short distance away from the Vanguard and he exited the star craft and made his way to his own. He could feel the other Mandalorians watching his back from the doorway. Knowing Trisk probably couldn't sense him, he used it to his advantage and knocked on the door to the Vanguard. Quickly making himself hidden, he waited for the door to open.

Trisk did open the door, with a Lightsaber drawn as she walked down the ramp to scout the area. While she was distracted, Meric jumped up silently to the top of the ramp and leaned against the open doorway.

"You know," he started, having his arms crossed while she whipped her head around. "It's a wonder that this Mitth'raw'nuruodo guy hasn't caught you yet, because that was too easy."

She let out a happy yelp while she jumped up and hugged him. He returned the embrace and gave her a tight squeeze. He had missed her, and he was glad to see her safe. Only then did she notice the other Mandalorians as they cheered and whistled at there interaction. Meric pulled away only to hide his embarrassment with his hand over his eyes. Trisk smiled at his actions. Placing her hands on his cheeks, she pulled him down and kissed his scared lips.

Meric's eyes widened at her actions, but the shock quickly dropped and he returned the action. After a short bit, he pulled away, looking into her red eyes with a mixture of joy and confusion.

"And you kept saying she wasn't your cyare." One Mando shouted at them.

He held in a chuckle. "They want to meet you."

"Then we best not disappoint." Trisk stated before grabbing his hand and walking over to the ship.

The remaining Mandalorians filtered out of the ship to meet Trisk. Many of them had talked to her for short bits over calls while battling the Separatists, so they greeted her like family. They weren't even bothered by the fact she use to be a Jedi.

"You just had to show everyone else up by having a Force User, didn't you." One man teased Meric.

"Rix," Meric countered. "You know that's not what happened."

Rix let out a laugh. "Right, now I remember, she was the contract you couldn't complete."

"I did make it difficult for him." Trisk admitted.

One woman placed her and on Trisk's shoulder. "For you that's understandable. You were trying to survive. This was the first time we heard of Meric willingly dropping a contract."

Rix jumped back in. "Anyway, it's nice to finally meet you Trisk. Last I saw you was after you saved us from the Nightmare Lands of Voss."

"I remember." Trisk nodded. "And I also remember Meric telling me that you were the one who gave him the scar on his lips."

His hand went up to the back of his head. "He told you about that huh? Not really one of my prouder moments."

"Anyway," One woman interrupted. "We are glad to finally meet the one Meric wouldn't stop praising. Mandalore himself desires to meet you."

"He heard of your adoption through Vata and wants to acknowledge it in person." Another stated. "But he is away right now and has asked that we set a time he can meet you"

"I think we're pretty open." Trisk answered, looking at Meric and gaining a nod from him.

"Perfect," Rix stated. "We will contact you later about a time to meet. For now, we best return to our own families. We will see you again."

They bid them goodbye and returned to their ship. Meric and Trisk waved before they took off. Entering the Vanguard, Meric suddenly stopped after the door closed. Trisk waited for him to speak.

"Can I take that as your answer?" Meric asked.

"Take what?"

"The kiss." He turned and looked at her.

She didn't blush, or suddenly act shy. She knew what she wanted, and was content to move on from her former life. With some trust in herself, she was certain she wouldn't fall down the same path Vader had. Walking up to him, she placed a hand on his cheek. Giving him a quick peck on his lips, she smiled, giving her answer.

"I have come to care for you deeply, Meric." She responded. "I don't want to live the rest of my life in fear of these feelings. I want to move past it and live a happy life with you. Even though I don't know it, I want to live the typical Mandalorian life."

He smiled down at her. "I can help you with that."

"I know you can."

"Oh, before we take off," he stopped and went back outside and brought in a large crate. "This is for you."

"Is that?"

"Vata's armor." He confirmed. "I would suggest that you repaint it. Mandalorian armor is very personal."

Trisk nodded. "I'll do that."

Setting the crate down, Meric went over and caressed her cheek. "We best get moving, we shouldn't stay here too much longer."

Trisk nodded once more and followed him to the cock pit. The took off and began traveling though space. Their travels were silent for a good part of the journey until their ship was pulled to a sudden stop. Alerts went off as Meric began to try to get the ship away.

"We're caught in a tractor beam." He stated while he worked on several things.

Trisk stood and ran to a viewing window, seeing a large Imperial Command ship. He had found her again. Or he had found her earlier and just waited for the opportune time. They were being drawn in, and they couldn't do anything about it. Meric abandoned the controls and put on his helmet, pulling out a blaster to fight.

"Meric." She objected.

"I don't care if they have us outnumbered." He said through gritted teeth. "I'm going to get us out of here one way or another."

Trisk knew they couldn't fight their way out of this. There were outnumbered one hundred to one just in that one docking bay. They wouldn't stand a chance if they fought. She watched with wide eyes as he held up his blaster and pressed the button that opened the door. Before he could fire off any blasts, she ran in front of him.

"Stop!" She shouted holding up her hands.

Meric followed her out, "Trisk."

"We can't beat them in this setting." She begged.

Three Storm Troopers walked over to them. Two grabbed Meric's arms, holding him back while the third disarmed him. He struggled against them, causing a fourth Trooper to walk up at hit the back of his neck with the butt of his blaster rifle, causing him to fall to his knees.

"Commander on Deck." An Officer called.

The large group of soldiers in unison stood at attention while their Commander made his way up to them. Trisk watched as he drew closer with a small smile on his face. His hands clasped behind his back, he stood up straight with confidence.

"Please," Trisk pleaded. "Don't hurt him."

"I find it quite amusing that you care so much for this barbaric hunter." The Commander smiled. "Though, he is free to go, if you willingly surrender to me. Otherwise, we find out how strong his armor truly is."

Trisk let out a gasp as several Storm Troopers raised their rifles and aimed at the Mandalorian. "No, please, I'll surrender. I'll go with you. Just let him go."

"Trisk." Meric disagreed.

She glanced at him and then looked back at the Commander. Holding up her hands, an Officer walked over and placed heavy cuffs on her wrists. She was their prisoner. The Commander smiled once again.

"Be sure he leaves." He ordered. "I don't want him on my ship longer than needed."

Meric glared at the Commander. He realized he should have made the connections earlier when he heard his name. Mitth'raw'nuruodo, a Chiss name.

Forcefully pushed back into the Vanguard, Meric did as Trisk wanted and left the ship, but he planned to come back for her.

Trisk watched with worried eyes as the ship she had come to call home left. Once he was out of sight, Trisk turned and glared at her captor.

"So, what's your plan now, Commander Thrawn?" She said with venom in her voice.

He turned at the mention of his name. "Don't be disappointed, I have plenty in store for you."


	19. Chapter 19

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 19

Guided into a jail cell, Trisk took in her surroundings while the Officer removed the cuffs from her wrists. An energy shield acted as the door as it closed her in. This cell was meant for a powerful prisoner, such as a Force User.

"I never imagined that I would find you so simply after all these years." Thrawn stated as he watched the process. "I did hire your Mandalorian friend to find your father, but I didn't suspect that it would also help me find you."

"You have me now, what are you going to do?" Trisk asked. "Take me to Vader? To the Emperor? Or are you just going to bore me with speeches?"

A twitch of the mouth caused Thrawn to smile. "You are far to valuable to simply kill. Trisk, you and I are the same."

"Don't even start." She glared.

"I merely speak the truth." He said while placing a hand over his heart. "You and I were both exiled from the Chiss people and our home. We were wronged by those who we considered family. If you join me, I can promise you that you will never have to feel like that again."

She crossed her arms. "You're still looked down upon by other Imperials that have higher positions than you."

"But I have the favor of the Emperor." He explained. "You could easily become one of Lord Vader's Inquisitors. You won't have to hide anymore."

Trisk didn't answer.

"I merely wish to help you, Trisk. Preserve your life and talents much longer than what that barbaric man could do." Thrawn taunted.

"Leave Meric out of this." She stated though gritted teeth.

Thrawn paused for a moment. "Interesting, I thought Jedi didn't create bonds with others. At least not in the way you protect him."

"I haven't considered myself a Jedi for a long time."

"Of course," he agreed. "You are far more powerful than those who were wiped out. You survived."

"You're trying to manipulate me." She said with a glare. "It's not going to work."

"I don't need Jedi Mind Tricks to get people to see what I want them to." Thrawn stated. "Give it some time, you will see that I am right."

With that, he turned and walked away from the cells, leaving Trisk alone. A pair of guards stood watch to make sure she wouldn't try anything. She didn't plan on trying to escape. And so, she sat at the center of her cell and began meditating. Not knowing what was going to happen in the near future, her only comfort was the Force.

Commander Thrawn watched the cell through a camera for a while. His prisoner had not moved from her meditative position. Rubbing his chin with his hand, he thought strategically on what to do next. She could still be used to his advantage if she did not join him.

His curiosity of her began when they first encountered. Many years ago just shortly after Order Sixty-Six. He fought against her when she still wore the garb of a Temple Guard and continued to fight the Imperials in any way she could. He had defeated her then, but she managed to escape, leaving the majority of her possessions behind.

He glanced at the mask on his desk. The mask he had claimed after that battle with her. One of his treasures. This particular one had more of a personal feel to it because of how he obtained it, and he often would study it like any other art he found. The Jedi's ways were intriguing, and this Jedi had peaked his interest.

He hadn't seen many Chiss Jedi or Force Users before. He knew that his people did look down on Force Users. It wasn't a surprise to him to find out she was exiled from the same home that exiled him. She also showed more emotion than most Chiss people as well. The pride of a Chiss made it so they often looked at things with a leveled head.

Thrawn himself had been exiled due to his aggressive tactics while apart of the Chiss Ascendancy. Chiss usually look for peaceful methods over violence, but in many cases, he had seen the only solution being over powering the enemy.

His eyes turned back to the screen. Trisk still had not moved. She hadn't even tried to escape. She was very calm in this situation. With his had still on his chin, he studied the Jedi for a while. She had changed since he last had met her. She was more confident, and collected. She didn't act unless she needed to. Even her actions when she jumped out of the Mandalorian's ship showed she was acting in protection of her friend.

"Commander Thrawn." An Officer called once he entered the room.

"Yes," he answered.

The Officer stood at attention. "You asked me to inform you when the interrogation room had been prepared."

"Good, thank you." Thrawn stood up and walked out, making his way towards the cells to meet his prisoner.

Once he reached her cell, he saw she still had not moved, and didn't make any attempt to acknowledge he was there. Pressing a button, the energy door opened and two Troopers walked in. It was then she lifted her head, a calm expression on her features. The Troopers each grabbed and arm and lifted her to her feet. A third one placed cuffs on her wrists, pulling her out of the cell.

Thrawn turned and guided them to the interrogation area. He walked in, and the Troopers pushed Trisk in, closing and guarding the door behind her. Thrawn stood with his hands behind his back, watching her calmly as she walked further into the room.

"I wondered if you were going to force more answers out of me." She stated. "The thing is, you won't get any useful information out of me. I don't know where any other Jedi are, and I don't know where any Rebels are. The last Rebels I helped left Tatooine after we freed their friends. It's been thirteen years since I last had any contact with anyone who opposes the Empire."

She withheld some of the truth, but the majority was accurate. She knew where one Jedi was, but no one else, and she would die before giving any other information. Trisk also was telling the truth that she didn't know any other Rebels. The only threat to the Empire that she could possibly know was the Mandalorians, and there wasn't going to be any conflict between the two. They stayed out of each others ways, unless the Empire needed a band of mercs.

"We aren't here for a simple interrogation." Thrawn stated.

The door opened once more, and a larger droid came in. It had several moving parts that were meant for torture. Trisk's eyes widened and she stepped away from the Droid. The Droid shifted and shot out a wire that hit Trisk's arm and electrocuted her. She tensed up and fell unconscious. The Droid went over and began to work as it had been commanded to, while Thrawn watched the whole time.


	20. Chapter 20

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 20

Trisk woke up in her cell. She didn't know what happened, but she had a headache and her arm hurt. She rubbed her temples and looked down at her wrist. Pulling back the band, she saw that her arm had expertly been surgically opened and sealed shut. Something had happened with that Droid, but she couldn't tell what. The new scar confused her.

A sudden feel of urgency entered her chest. She needed to get out. Whatever happened, she knew she needed to leave and get back to Meric. She looked around her cell, seeing the two Storm Troopers that had been assigned to guard her.

"You will open the door and leave with your companion." Trisk said.

The Troopers straightened and one walked over and opened the door and the Jedi Mind Trick continued to command them. They walked away, leaving Trisk alone with an open cell. She stood up and walked over to the door and looked around for any other Troopers. The cost was clear, for now.

Taking the opportunity, she ran out and made her way down an empty hallway. When she heard footsteps, she ran into a separate area to hide for a moment. She watched carefully until it was clear and she continued to make her way to the other ships on board to get out.

She needed to find Thrawn's trophy room first. Out of all the things he had taken from her, she was not going to let him keep her sabers. An alarm went off.

"Everyone be alert." A voice on the speakers called. "The Jedi has escaped containment."

"That just upped my time factor." Trisk said as she ran down the hall.

"I want all available hands to search this vessel from top to bottom." Thrawn's voice caught her attention. She stopped at the hall and she looked around the corner. "We cannot allow for her to escape. Add extra security to the flight deck, no ship takes off until she is found and back in confinement."

Thrawn and the Officer turned and walked the opposite direction. Once they were far enough away, Trisk went to the room they exited from and entered. She knew it was Thrawn's, because of all of the treasures he had collected. Her saber's were on his desk, easy to find. She grabbed them and placed them on her belt. Glancing back on the desk, her eyes landed on the Mask of a Temple Guard. Her mask.

Reaching over and grabbing it from its stand, she studied the mask. A flood of memories came to her head as she brushed her hands over the gold painting. She wanted to take this away from him as well. He had no right to keep it as a trophy. But the life of a Temple Guard was in the past. That wasn't her life anymore. She had to leave it.

Placing the mask back on the stand, she went back to the door. It opened, and she glanced out to see if anyone was around. She began running to the other ships to escape. Several Storm Troopers came around the corner, causing her to slide to a halt.

They raised their blasters, and one called on his radio. "We found her, taking her into custody."

"Just you try." She replied, activating her sabers.

The commanding officer raised his blaster. "Fire at will."

The blasters went off, and Trisk began to deflect the bolts. She was out numbered, but she could escape if she was diligent. She ran towards them and jumped into the air. Releasing a powerful wave of the Force, she sent the group flying in all directions as she began running further to the ships.

Once she arrived at the hanger, she came to a sudden stop, as the area was filled with Troopers. A large number of blasters targeted her, and she lifted her sabers to defend. The area filled with blaster fire as she began to move. She blocked most of the fire with her sabers, and used them to send the bolts back to the Troopers. She used her Force ability to clear a path for her, pushing the Troopers away from her.

Focusing on getting to the ship, she ran towards the closest star fighter. One of the Troopers threw a grenade at the ship, causing it to explode when she got close. She flew to the side and hit some of the cargo cases, letting out a grunt in pain.

She didn't let herself stop though. She stood back up and began running to the next ship, using her sabers to deflect what blasts she could. Several managed to graze her, making her slow down slightly. But she managed to make it to a ship and board.

It was a ship the size of a Tie-Fighter, but looked very different. It's wings were curved in, and had a darker look to it. It was a prototype ship that Thrawn's crew was in charge of building and testing. Trisk felt it would work exactly for what she needed. She just hoped that it had a working hyper-drive.

Starting up the ship, she took off and left the Command Ship. Though she was off the ship, she wasn't quite in the clear yet. Several other pilots followed her and fired at her. She worked on shaking them, but several shots damaged the ship.

Activating the hyper-drive, she took off into space, wanting to get away as fast as she could. The other Tie-Fighters broke away and returned to the Command Ship. Thrawn watched through the Command Deck, seeing her ship escape. A small smile came to his lips and he now simply had to wait.

Rix had agreed to help Meric since he heard that Trisk had been taken by the Imperials. Several other Mandalorians from the Clan also were in search of the ship that took her. Rix was also on a call with his friend.

"The Galaxy is a big place, Meric." He said. "You have to understand that it's going to take a while to get any results."

Meric sighed over the call. "I know, I'm just worried that the longer it takes, the more likely she will be dead."

"We're Mandalorians." Rix stated. "We enjoy the time we have with our loved ones, and keep going."

"I just wanted more time." He replied.

"We all do." A beeping came to his console. "Hold on, I'm getting a distress call."

Rix piloted closer to the beacon and pulled his ship to a stop once it came in sight. He had a confused look on his face as he analyzed his situation.

"Haar'chak." He said.

"What is it?"

"The distress call came from an advanced Tie-Fighter." Rix responded.

Meric paused. "I don't recall Imperials using a distress call from their fighters."

"In addition," Rix commented. "The fighter is the only ship other than mine out here. Must have used up its fuel to the last drop to get here, or it was left behind."

Rix reached and pressed a few buttons to bring his ship closer. "I'm going to pull it in and check it out."

"Have your safety off." Meric stated.

As the ship was pulled in, Rix made his way down to the Docking Bay. Several other Mandalorians held their blasters ready to attack when needed. Rix held up his blaster and went to the door of the Fighter.

The door opened, and Rix held up his blaster. He let out a gasp and placed his blaster back in the holster. Reaching in he pulled out the limp body of Trisk. Pulling her out of the ship, he got down and carried her to the other men.

"Get a Medic here, now!" He commanded.

Without hesitation, he carried Trisk to the ships Medical Bay, hoping he wasn't too late. Placing her on the bed, he let the Medic work while he called Meric once again.

"So, what happened?" Meric answered. "Was it empty? Or was it a trap?"

"I found her." Rix responded. "But she's bad. She must have gone through haran to get out of that Command Ship. I have my Medic working on her now, but she may be out for a while. Her wounds are pretty severe."

"Give me your location," Meric reacted. "I'll get there as soon as I can."


	21. Chapter 21

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 21

The Vanguard connected to Rix's ship. Once the seal was activated, Meric stood up and made his way to the exit. Pip crawled up to him, letting out a string of beeps. He wanted to see her too.

Holding down his hand, Meric invited the little droid. "Come on, she would want you to be there too."

Pip jumped up and landed in Meric's hand, and crawled up his arm, latching onto his shoulder while he walked a fast pace to the other ship. Waiting for the door to open, Meric tapped his leg with his finger. Once the door opened, he began running to the Medical Bay of the ship. Rix met him half way.

"How is she?" Meric asked as Rix matched his pace and guided him to the room.

"Her wounds are pretty extensive, it will take some time to heal." Rix confirmed. "But she's alive."

"Do we know what happened?"

"No," Rix stated. "All we know is that the ship she used is completely depleted of fuel. She was trying to get as far away from where ever she was as fast as she could. The ship was also damaged, suggesting that she didn't just leave easily. Her injuries also confirm that."

Meric came to a stop and rubbed his eyes. "Thrawn really tried hard to keep her there."

Rix's eyes widened. "Thrawn was the one who took her?"

"Apparently he's been after her for a long time now. A little over a decade." Meric stated. "Trisk said it's because he sees them as the same."

They began to walk again and came to the Medical Bay. Trisk lay on one of the beds, her features in a relaxed state. She had several bandages wrapped around wounds that had hit her arms, and even one that had grazed her cheek. She looked badly beaten. Several dark bruises appeared on her skin as well, and the sight broke Meric's heart.

One week, she had been missing for one week, and the first time he saw her again was after she had to fight her way out all alone. He planned to go and save her, but he couldn't do that if he didn't have help and couldn't find the ship.

Reaching down to her, he placed his hand on her cheek, rubbing her skin with his thumb. Leaning down, he placed his forehead against hers. He had never felt so helpless before. He could do nothing for her other than wait. He just needed her to wake up.

"Thank you, Rix." Meric said while sliding his arms under her legs and back. "I'll take her back to the Vanguard and take her someplace to rest until she can fully recover."

"Where are you thinking?" Rix asked.

"Mandalore," Meric's eyes didn't leave Trisk. "It's probably one of the safest places for her. No Imperials will attack her there. And my parents would be willing to help."

"Do you want me to come with?" Rix asked, willingly being a support to his friend and brother.

Meric shook his head. "We should be okay, but could you inform the other Mandalorians searching that we found her. They can stop now."

Rix nodded. "I'll check in on you and her progress later."

Meric turned and walked out of the room, making his way to his own ship. Pip crawled down Meric's shoulder and rested on Trisk's lap, hugging one of her hands. They were both worried about her. He took her back into the Vanguard and rested her on her bed.

Tucking a hair behind her ear, he instructed Pip. "Watch over her. I need to get us to Mandalore."

Pip gave a confirmation beep and stayed close to his creator. Meric smiled at the two and went up to the pilot's seat. Setting a course for his home world, he piloted the ship to the safe haven. After a long flight, he saw his home world come to view. He needed to call his parents and inform them they were coming.

Pressing a few buttons, the call went out as he began preparations to land the ship as close to home as he could.

"It's been a while since you called, Meric." His father's voice answered. "To what do we owe this pleasure?"

"I wish it was more pleasurable circumstances," Meric admitted. "I'm coming home for a while. My friend has been badly wounded and this is the only place I can think of being safe for her."

"Is it that Jedi friend I've heard so much about?" Meric's mother asked.

"Who told you?" Meric asked.

Meric's father answered. "Rix called us a while ago and told us the situation. You know our home is always open to your friends. Though, Rix also said she is more than a friend to you."

Meric didn't know how to answer that.

"It's nice to hear that you have a cyare, ad." Meric's mother commented.

His father agreed. "You've been so focused on your bounty hunting that your mother and I actually were worried that you wouldn't find someone."

Meric had entered the planets atmosphere and began the landing procedures. "I do love her, and she knows that. But I don't know where we stand. She lived the majority of her life under a code that taught her that romantic relationships can lead to the Dark Side. It wasn't until more recently that she told me she wanted to live as normal a Mandalorian life as she could."

"Sounds pretty clear to me." His father stated.

His mother added on. "But there's also the worry of her being known as a Jedi. The Empire will constantly target her. If she wants to live that life, she needs to be willing to completely drop everything dealing with the Jedi and become a full Mandalorian."

"She's partially there." Meric explained. "Vata adopted her into the clan, and gave her armor after she died. She just needs to be fully approved by Mandalore. But I don't want to make the choice for her. Her Jedi past is a big part of her life."

"Then I guess we wait and see what is more important to her." His mother answered.

Meric's ship touched down. "I just landed. I'll see you in a few minutes."

Meric closed the call and powered off the ship. Walking back to Trisk's room, he opened the door and saw that she had not changed positions. Pip still watched her, and his heart fell a little more. Walking over, Pip looked at him and let out sad string of beeps.

"I know." He acknowledged. "I want her to wake up too."

He bent over and picked her up, holding her close to his chest. Pip didn't hesitate to jump up and cling to Trisk's hand once more. He walked out of the ship and made his way to his home. It had been quite a long time since he had visited his parents, and he should have sooner. He even had been on Mandalore not that long ago when Vata passed away. He could have visited them, but he had focused on his feeling for Trisk.

After walking a while, he arrived at him home, where is father, Vrack Cryl, waited for him with an open door. Entering the domain, Meric made his way back to his old room, finding that little had changed since he last visited. He placed Trisk on the bed, covering her with a blanket.

He looked over and grabbed a chair nearby and sat down next to the bed. Resting his elbows against his knees, he leaned forward and watched her for a bit. Reaching over, he grabbed her free hand hand gave it a squeeze.

"You have to wake up." He demanded of her, hoping the words would reach her somehow.

His father and mother watched from the doorway, both saddened at seeing how their son was effected by the situation. They knew he wasn't going to move from that spot that often. He would stay by her side until she woke up. They didn't know when that would happen, but they hoped it would be soon.

"Poor thing." His mother whispered.

"They both look like they've been through a lot." Vrack commented.

Rikillo, Meric's mother, rested her head on her husbands shoulder. "I've never seen our ad act like this before. His feelings are genuine."

Vrack rested his hand on her waist. "I wouldn't expect less from our son. This girl must be special if she effects Meric like this."

"You think she could survive a plate of my Tingilar?" Rikillo asked.

Vrack let out a chuckle. "You know we have to keep her if she does."

"Buir," Meric called to his parents. "I don't know how long we will be here, but..."

"Don't even worry about staying here too long." His mother told him. "Take as much time as you need. She needs to be healthy again before you take off."

He smiled at them and looked back to the sleeping Chiss woman. He just needed to wait and hopefully soon, she would wake up.


	22. Chapter 22

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 22

Three more days passed, and Trisk had not woken yet. Several of her wounds had healed very well, leaving few scars on her skin. Meric had stayed by her side the whole time, and smiled at her condition. He knew her time as a Jedi would have given her several scars and a few more wouldn't matter to her, but he was glad that she was doing better.

He had even wondered if maybe she was using the Force to heal herself slowly, thus the reason she was slow on waking up. He wasn't certain, but the Kolto and Baca were helping her heal as well. The only things that were staying longer were the deep bruises along her back and side of her body. Once she woke up, Meric knew he had to ask what had happened.

A wave of exhaustion hit him after all this time. Leaning back in his chair, he let his eyes drift shut. He was half a sleep when he heard a shift in the bed in front of him.

"Meric?" A voice in a whispered tone called to him.

His eyes snapped open, causing him to loose balance and fall back in his chair. He hit the ground, hard. Letting out a small groan he looked at the bed.

Trisk was staring at him, holding out her hand to him, as if she tried to catch his chair before he fell. She was awake. He got up in a flash and walked over to her, grabbing her hand.

"Welcome back." He stated with a small smile.

"Where are we?" She asked.

Meric looked around. "My old room on Mandalore. This is my parent's house."

Pip woke up at her voice and let out a squeal of joy before climbing up her arm and nuzzling her cheek. She smiled and gingerly placed a hand on her droid. She was happy to see them both again.

"Is she awake?" Rikillo asked from the other room.

Meric called back. "Yes."

"Ori'jate!" She exclaimed. "We're having Tingilar tonight!"

Meric walked over to the door with a worried look. "Are you certain that's a good idea?"

"You know that a woman who can survive my Tingilar is one that needs to be kept around." His mother called.

Trisk let out a laugh, but soon regretted it as her body retaliated with a burst of pain. She couldn't double over, but her hand grasped the blanket and she let out a groan. Meric looked back at her and went over to help in any way he could.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, pulling the chair back up and sitting back down.

She looked up at the ceiling. "I hurt, everywhere."

"What happened on that ship?" He asked.

"They locked me up," she started. "After a while, Thrawn came and had me escorted to an interrogation room where I was knocked out. I woke up later and saw that they had done something, but I don't know what. I decided to escape and used my Force Abilities to get out. I went and got my sabers from Thrawn and after that everyone was alerted that I got out. I had to fight my way to a ship. They even blew one up to prevent me from taking it. That explosion gave me these." She indicated to the bruises. "After that, I focused on getting to a ship. Got hit a few times and flew off. They trailed me for a bit until I was able to enter hyperspace. After that, it's a little blurry. I think I was able to send out a distress signal and then everything went black."

"It probably wasn't long after that when Rix found you." Meric stated.

"How long have I been out?" She asked.

He grabbed her hand. "You were sleeping for about three days. Before that, you were missing for a week."

She let out a shaky breath. A week was a long time, and she guessed during that time was when they did something to her arm. She gently lifted her arm and pulled her hand away from Meric to pull down the cuff and see the scar. It was still there. So, none of what she though was a dream.

"Was that what they did?" Meric asked.

She held out her arm for him to examine. "I don't know what it is they did. But I'm thinking we will find out in the future."

His fingers brushed against the new scar, feeling sad that this had happened to her. He wished he could have done more for her. But at the same time, he understood why she demanded he leave. He wasn't in the right mind to be able to help her, as well as they were severely outnumbered. If she hadn't had stepped in, he probably would have been killed. Her actions saved his life once again.

"I'm sorry I made you worry." She added.

His hand paused, then he moved to cover her hand with his. "What happened wasn't your fault. You saved both our lives that day. There's no need to apologize."

Trisk smiled. "Ni kar'taylir darasuum."

His eyes widened for a moment, but he returned her smile. "Ni kar'taylir darasuum."

Leaning over, he placed a small kiss on her forehead. He smiled at her and stood back up. Walking over to the door, he looked back at her as she gave some attention to Pip.

"Get some rest," he told her. "I'll wake you once we have some food ready."

She nodded and closed her eyes, letting out a relaxing breath before sleep set in once again.

When Trisk woke again, she woke to the smell of spicy food. She heard several voices coming from outside the room. She recognized one as Meric's, a second one was feminine and was one she had heard earlier. She assumed it was Meric's mother, and the other she assumed was his father. They sounded happy, causing a small smile to come to Trisk's lips.

She stayed like that for a few minutes and waited. After a while, Meric walked in and saw that she was awake. He gave her a crooked smile before sitting down next to the bed.

"How are doing?" He asked.

She shifted her position slightly. "More sore than anything. I'm going to be like this for a while."

He nodded.

"What's your mother making?" Trisk asked. "It smells wonderful."

"Just to warn you," he discouraged. "You don't have to eat it. It's Tingilar, one of the spiciest dishes in Mandalore. My mother adds even more spice."

"I think I'll like it." She grinned.

Standing back up, Meric gently lifted her upper body and propped the pillows in such a way she could sit up straight. He set her back on the pillows, letting her relax once again. His hand lingered on her arm before he sat back down.

"Yes," he smiled. "We will be here for a while."

"And your parents?"

He leaned forward. "They understand the situation, and they are fine with us staying as long as we need."

"Very kind people." She stated.

"They like you."

"I haven't had the opportunity to talk to them yet." She looked over at the door.

Meric reached over and grabbed her hand. "You will. They're going to eat dinner with us tonight. Partially because they want to see if you can survive the Tingilar."

"Speaking of which," Meric's father walked in, holding two plates of food.

Meric's mother walked in behind him also holding two plates. They distributed the food, and Meric's parents found a spot to sit while Meric began introductions.

"Trisk," he indicated to his parents. "My father, Vrack Cryl, and my mother, Rikillo Cryl. Mother, Father, this is Trisk."

"I'm glad that we could officially meet." Vrack smiled at the former Jedi.

"We've heard much about you from Meric." His mother stated. "And his friends. They talk highly of you."

She laughed a bit. "I'm certain I'm not as amazing as they make me sound."

"That's for us to decide." Rikillo stated.

They began to eat. The first bite caught Meric off guard, causing him to suddenly jump back slightly. He didn't expect that much spice. He glanced at Trisk, who had frozen with the eating utensil in her mouth. His mother watched in anticipation for the Chiss to respond to the food.

Trisk finished chewing the food and swallowed the bite. "Wow."

"If it's too hot..." Meric began to say.

"I'm going to need more than one serving of this." She cut him off, taking another bite. "This is some of the best food I have had in ages. There is more?"

His mother laughed. "I'll give you as many servings as you want."

"I guess I forgot that I have gone awhile without eating." She admitted.

Trisk continued to eat the food without any problems, savoring every bite while Meric and his parents continued to talk. The conversation went many directions as topics changed. Trisk for the beginning part only really ate and listened, but she enjoyed seeing Meric so comfortable in the situation. She could tell that they were a close family.

"So, ad," Vrack turned to ask his son a question. "What made it so you knew she was the one?"

Meric's head fell into his hand. "Must we talk about this now?"

"I say there's no better time." Rikillo stated. "We may not have another chance because who knows when you are going to visit again."

Meric looked over to Trisk, seeing what her expression told him. Her eyes wondered what his answer would be as well. He let out a sigh, there was no getting out of this.

"She snorted when she laughed." He answered.

A sudden rush of blush came to Trisk's cheeks and she ducked her head slightly and his answer. His parents smiled at his response. And they enjoyed seeing her shy away at the comment as well. There was a playful side to their son that they hadn't seen until Trisk had come. And they liked seeing him happy.

"And you, Trisk?" His mother turned the question to her. "What made it so you knew?"

Trisk's head stayed low for awhile while she thought things through. What was the turning point for her? A small smile came to her lips as she remembered.

"He sang." She stated.

"He was always popular with his voice." Vrack explained to her. "At least in our clan."

She looked up at the couple. "I'll admit, I didn't know that I would fall in love with him when we first met. I didn't think it would progress this far when I heard him sing, but he's been a best friend to me, and I couldn't ask for better. His singing just became a turning point in terms of what I can do with my life now."


	23. Chapter 23

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 23

Two more weeks passed on Mandalore in which time Trisk recovered almost completely. Over the time, Meric had helped her to regain her walking ability, and the majority of the bruises had cleared up. The only scar that had remained was the one that was on her wrist, hidden by her cuff. The healing process made their bond deeper and stronger.

Trisk stood outside, gazing at the sky of Mandalore. She let out a sigh and leaned against the railing in front of her. Lost in thought, she didn't notice Meric walk out. He stopped when he saw her standing there. He didn't know what was on her mind, but he wanted to be there for her.

Coming up from behind, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her. "What's on your mind, cyar'ika?"

"I'm just enjoying the calm." She said leaning her head back into his shoulder.

Meric looked up at the sky. "Not all of Mandalor is like this. Other places are having conflicts with the Empire. Bo-Katan, Regent of Mandalore, doesn't want to follow the Empire, and that's becoming a struggle for the Mandalorian people."

"I'm sorry to hear that." She stated. "But for what it's worth, this is probably the most relaxed I've been since Order Sixty-Six."

"I beat Voss, huh?" He turned and looked at her.

She let out a small laugh. "Voss I had to constantly be on guard for bounty hunters who wanted me dead."

"Was I that bad?" He teased.

She smiled at him. "The thing that made you hard was that I couldn't sense you with the Force. I had to be three steps ahead of you. Plus you were persistent as kyr'am."

"I'll take that as a compliment." He said while giving her a small squeeze. "There's something more on your mind."

She let out a sigh. Lifting up her wrist, she opened up. "I'm worried about this. I don't know what happened, what they did, and if it will cost more lives in the end."

He placed a hand on her arm, pushing it down. "We'll find out soon enough, and when we do, we will fix it."

She let out a peaceful sigh, looking back up at the stars. Meric stayed in his position for a while. He enjoyed the moment of peace and rest they had. After all the excitement they had recently, they needed some time to rest and be alone. It was Meric's turn to have something on his mind.

"I've been meaning to ask you something," he started, pulling away and positioning himself so he sat on the railing with Trisk in front of him. "I know you said you wanted to try to have a normal Mandalorian life, and I want to give that to you. But in order to do that you would have to give up this." He tapped on her broach, holding a symbol of the Jedi Temple Guards. "Would you be able to do that? Drop everything you knew and lived, and start a completely new life? You would no longer be a Jedi, or even a former Jedi, you would just be a Mandalorian."

Trisk listened quietly.

Meric continued. "You said it yourself, Thrawn won't stop following you unless you're dead. And I know there are many clans that won't be happy about having a Jedi, even a former one, around Mandalore. You would have to stop using your sabers, and hide them. You would also have to stop using the Force for anyone to see. It's a big change. Are you willing to make that?"

Trisk opened her mouth to speak, but Meric pulled her down and silenced her once again with a kiss.

"Don't answer right now," he offered. "Take your time to think it through. Whatever you choose, I will be with you the whole time."

Reaching up, he placed his hand on her cheek, stroking her skin with his thumb. He watched as she looked down and didn't know how to respond to his request after that. He knew that it was a big decision, and he wanted her to take her time before deciding. He wanted her to know that the decision she made would be one she didn't regret.

Opening his mouth, a melody of comfort came from his voice. "Anay ca'nara cuun haa'it urcir ibic aalar petir b'. Ge ori'shya b' hiibir banar gar tigaanur b'. B' aalar gar kar'taylir darasuum b'. Bal bick mirshir b'. Be draar ibic gebbar droten ra mayen b' suslur gar mirdir. B' haa'taylir gar vercopin.

"B' ne suvarir gar vaabir iba'sar baabir. Be bid o'r kar'taylir darasuum ti gar bic arasuumir jete'say. B' copaanir bah dinuir haar be kar'tati gar de be eso. Ratiin ballvurel. Anay nari gar vaabir b' kandosii'la de gar."

He smiled at her and stood up, walking back into the house. She watched him as he went in. His words piercing her to the core. He was right, his suggestion was the only reasonable way for her to live a semblance of a normal safe life. As long as she had her sabers on her hip, and wore the symbol of a Jedi, everyone would see her as such. Her Jedi upbringing had been a big part of her life, and she was glad that she had learned so much about it. But she had decided to part ways from it to leave the fear of death following her.

If Meric had allowed her to, she would have answered immediately, but he told her to truly think about it. This brought one major question to mind. Which was more important? Her life with Meric, or her past as a Jedi?

"Is she still on Mandalore?" Thrawn asked as he walked onto the command deck.

"Yes Sir," an Officer stated. "She has not moved from the same location. Orders?"

Thrawn looked at the map, gazing on the small red blinking light. "Keep waiting, she won't stay there long. Soon, she will lead us to the enemy."

"Why do you think she went to Mandalore?"

"She didn't." Thrawn answered. "I watched the path of the tracker since she escaped. She stopped after the prototype ship ran out of fuel. Her Mandalorian friend must have found her and took her to his home world to heal. We did injure her extensively, but we needed her escape to feel real to her."

"Yes Sir."

Thrawn watched the map longer. They had been there for two weeks. Eventually, they would start moving. And he knew that Trisk would follow those who needed help. She sympathized with the Rebels, so she would help them. He was certain she would lead them to the Empires enemies. He just needed to be patient.


	24. Chapter 24

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 24

By the next morning, Trisk had made her decision. She knew what she wanted to do, and she was willing to follow through. She needed to talk to Meric. Walking out of her room she stayed in, she began to look around the house for him. It didn't take long to find him, he was relaxing in the living area.

He looked up when she entered the room. "Good morning."

She took a deep breath and walked over to him. Sitting down in front of him, she leaned forward and looked him in the eyes. He blinked a few times and waited for her to speak. She had that look of absolute certainty that he knew to believe.

"I've made my decision." She told him.

Holding up his hand, that was the only time he was weary of her certainty. "It's only been a few hours, are you certain you don't want to take more time to think about it?"

"I would have told you the same answer yesterday if you didn't stop me." She stated, pushing his hand down.

His heart beat harder for a moment. "Alright, I've been wanting to ask you something as well. But I'll hear you first."

"First you have to understand," she continued, not breaking eye contact. "This is going to take time. A lot of people know that I'm around, so when we find the right time, we can really get this to work. But for now, I'll have to keep going as I am until we are done fighting Thrawn."

Meric's eyebrows knit together. "Are you saying?"

She reached up and placed a hand on his cheek. "I was already planning on becoming a full Mandalorian and hiding my Force Abilities. You are more important than all my years as a Jedi."

Meric let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. He truly thought she would have chosen to keep living the life she had been. The sudden relief caused him to exhale another large breath and lean back in the seat he was on. His hand went to his forehead as his mind processed the information.

"Was that really a surprise?" Trisk asked.

"For me, yes." He answered. "I thought you would have chosen to stay a Jedi. I know how important it is to you, and I was prepared to walk that path with you."

"I know I'm still new to the romance in a relationship, but please have a little more faith in my feelings for you." She crossed her arms.

He laughed. "I do, which is why I wanted to ask you something."

"And what would that be?" She asked.

He stood up and bent down so he was on one knee. Grabbing her hands, he asked sweetly. "Trisk, will you marry me?"

Her eyes widened at his words. It had suddenly hit her that no matter what she chose, he would have asked her to be his wife. One of her hands went up to her mouth as she held back tears of joy. She couldn't speak, so she nodded. After a few seconds she let out a squeak of accepting.

Meric's face lit up, and he couldn't hold back a grin. He stood up, lifting her in his arms by the waist, hugging her. Spinning around he laughed with joy at her answer. Setting her on her feet, he bent down and kissed her. His hand went up and cradled her head while the other clasped her hand.

They stayed like that for a bit before pulling away. He smiled down at her and she returned his grin. He hugged her once more, tucking her head under his chin. His parents walked it after a short while.

"I'm guessing you popped the question." His father stated.

His mother finished the thought. "And her answer?"

Meric laughed as he simply clasped his cyare's hand. "She said yes. And she decided to become a full Mandalorian."

They smiled and went over and joined them. Meric's father slapped a hand on his shoulder and shook it in congratulations. Meric's mother went over to Trisk.

She explained. "Trisk, Mandalorian weddings are incredibly simple. There's usually no celebration. It's four simple lines said between the husband and wife. A vow between each other."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Trisk said with a smile.

Meric turned to her. "Just repeat after me. Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar'tome, mhi me'dinui an, mhi ba'juri verde."

"Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar'tome, mhi me'dinui an, mhi ba'juri verde." She repeated. "What does it mean?"

"We are one whether we are together or apart, we will share everything and we will raise our children as warriors." Meric responded. "I know you forever, cyare."

He bent down and pressed his forehead against hers. She was his wife. From the beginning, he didn't know she would be his wife. But looking back, he was glad everything had happened. He had found her, became friends with her, fell in love with her, and now he was married to her. She was his, and he was hers.

Once the time came, Trisk the Jedi would disappear, and Trisk Cryl would arrive as a Mandalorian. Meric opened his eyes, he knew it was time to leave Mandalore. Trisk would want to get back out into the Galaxy and help those in need. She would also want to find a way to finish this fight with Thrawn. They needed to leave.

"Trisk," he pulled away and looked at his wife. "It's probably best that we keep moving. If we want to make sure you are safe, we need to finish this fight with Thrawn."

She nodded in agreement. After a few moments of goodbyes to family, they made their way out of the home and walked back to the Vanguard. It was time to move on and get to where they needed to be.


	25. Chapter 25

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 25

"I'm wondering if you two could make a trip to my ship." A large man asked over the holo-terminal. "I would like to have this more official."

"We'll head over right away, Mandalore." Meric answered.

Mandalore nodded and the call ended.

Meric turned to Trisk. "So, it will be official."

"That took longer than we thought." Trisk admitted.

Meric shrugged. "He's a very busy man. Considering he's in charge of a military forces and leads an entire peoples."

"We should get going then." She pointed to the cockpit. "We don't want to keep him waiting."

Meric nodded and they blasted off towards Mandalore's ship, the Teragon. After awhile in hyperspace, they slowed to a stop and went towards the large ship. Landing in the docking bay, Trisk and Meric exited the Vanguard and were guided to Mandalore's office.

He waited with a smile on his face and greeted them with a booming voice. "Welcome Meric, it's been a while since I last spoke to you in person. And this is Trisk?"

Meric nodded. "My wife."

"Even better!" He exclaimed. "I am proud that such a warrior has married one of my favorite soldiers."

"And it is an honor to meet you Mandalore." Trisk said with a bow of her head.

He sat down in his chair, and indicated for them to sit as well. "No need to be so formal with me. I have been wanting to meet you since I heard so much about you from Meric and his clan. They did nothing but praise you."

"So I keep getting told," she stated and looked over to him. "I always feel though that the praise is speaking too highly of me."

"I wouldn't be too worried." Mandalore stated. "Now, getting down to the specifics, Vata's adoption of you was very different from what usually happens. Adoptions of siblings is very rare and do need to go through me to be official. Normally, an adoption is one of a parent to a child, not sibling to sibling."

Trisk nodded, understanding the situation.

"Another thing is your Jedi past," Mandalore continued. "You'll find that many Mandalorians don't sympathize with Jedi. I'm certain Meric has told you of the battle between Jedi and Mandalorians that happened in the past. This causes some reason to worry."

"I understand." Trisk stated. "I actually talked to Meric about it already, and I decided it would be best for me, in time, to hide my Jedi past and Force Abilities. It would be safer for me in the end because I have some high up Imperials targeting me. I don't want my family in danger because of me."

Mandalore held up his hand. "You don't have to drop your past completely, Vata gave you her armor correct?" Once Trisk confirmed it, he continued. "You can paint that armor to be however you want it to look. So, if you want you can put elements of your past on it. No one will question it because the only one who knows the meaning of your armor will be you and Meric."

A slight relieved look came to Trisk's face and she nodded.

"And considering your riduur is a bounty hunter and part of our military, danger will always be there. But I understand what you mean." Mandalore answered. "How long do you think you will need until you are able to leave that past?"

Trisk dropped her head. "I'm not certain. Commander Thrawn is the one after me, and he's been after me for about a decade now. He won't stop until he thinks I'm dead or join him."

"You will need to fake your death." Mandalore stated. "And with you being a Jedi, you need to do it in such a way that Thrawn will believe it. So, we can't do something simple."

Trisk nodded.

"As well as," Meric jumped in. "When she was in his custody they did some sort of surgery on her arm. We don't know why?"

Mandalore held out his hand, and Trisk held out her arm for him to examine. "They probably put something in there. And I think they would do it in such a way that our technology wouldn't be able to tell what it is. I would suggest that you be careful and look for any patterns that happen from here on out until you can figure out what it is."

They both nodded in agreement.

"Well, now that that's cleared up." Mandalore clapped his hands. "Trisk, Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad. I know your name as my child. With this, your adoption is official. Welcome to the Mandalorians."

Trisk smiled and nodded, gaining a playful punch to the arm from her husband. Mandalore stood up, causing the other two to follow. He extended his hand to Trisk, and shook it with a firm grip. He did the same with Meric before leading them to the door of his office.

"Keep me updated on what's going on." He asked them. "I want to know what's up."

"Yes, Sir." Meric responded and walked with his wife back to the ship.

They boarded and left the larger ship, flying into the darkness of space. After a while of flying, Meric set the ship on a cruising speed while they figured out what to do next.

"How about we see if there's any bounties?" Trisk offered.

Meric thought about it and turned his seat to look at his wife. "I've been thinking about that. What if I stopped being a bounty hunter?"

She blinked. "What? But you love bounty hunting."

"I wouldn't use the word love," he explained. "I liked it for the challenge. But bounty hunting was always a morally dirty job. I always saw myself as more of a military fighter, and that's something you have more experience with as well."

"Are you sure?"

He reached over and placed his hand on hers. "It would mean that you are safer because you wouldn't be traveling with a bounty hunter. We can focus on finding those who need help. Protecting those who can't protect themselves. The Jedi way."

Trisk smiled. "I like that idea."

A lot of time had passed, and Trisk and Meric were starting to gain an understanding of what Thrawn had implanted in her arm. Over the course of a year or two, Trisk and Meric had gone to several different systems and planets to help those who needed it. They helped some smugglers who were supplying some rebel groups. They provided a solution to a civil problem on Botajef. And even helped some rebel troopers on another planet.

But they noticed that wherever they went, Thrawn wasn't too far behind. The concluded that whatever was implanted in Trisk's arm, was some sort of tracker that allowed for Thrawn to follow them through space. And every planet they went to, he would conquer to benefit the Empire. The smugglers were whipped out. A political problem that already was on Botajef had been ratified by Thrawn. The rebel troopers were killed once Thrawn found them.

He was using them to benefit the Empire. And both Trisk and Meric knew they had to figure something out to stop them. Meric had been on several calls with his clan brothers to find solutions, and he felt he was close to a break through.

"I know someone on Batonn who may be able to help." A Mandalorian said through the call. "A technical genius. He may be able to tell what's in your wife's arm, and know a way to fix it."

"Send us the location, and let him know we are coming." He stated. "We will be there soon."

Meric ended the call and walked to the cockpit, passing his wife on the way.

She followed. "You think this one will work?"

"I hope so." He answered as he set the coordinates on the map and made his way to the planet.

He was ready for this battle with Thrawn to be over. Thought there was a fear that that battle would end with someone losing their life. He didn't want that to happen to his wife. Deep down he also didn't want it to happen to himself so he could have more time with her, but he would prefer that she lived and he died if that were to happen.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up from the view of hyperspace and grabbed his wife's hand. She gave him a half smile and brushed her fingers against his cheek.

"You're doing it again." She teased.

He cocked an eyebrow. "Doing what?"

"Worrying too much." She squeezed his hand. "We will figure this out. And beat Thrawn. Soon, we will be able to just relax."

"And start a family?" He smiled.

She giggled. "Yes, and start a family. But we may need to adopt. Though Chiss are thought to be evolved forms of humans, we aren't completely certain if we are compatible."

Meric looked a little disappointed. "I want a little red eyed girl though."

Trisk laughed. "We can try though. I promise."

He smiled and kissed her hand before turning back to the controls, flying them towards Batonn.


	26. Chapter 26

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 26

They arrived at the location of the recommended individual, and before they could knock on the door, he opened it and pulled them in, looking around before closing the door behind them. He didn't hesitate to pull Trisk to his desk and began to examine her arm.

"You don't wait around do you?" Trisk asked with jest in her voice.

He shushed her and pulled out a device and set it on the table. Setting it up to hover over her arm in front of his vision, the clear screen changed and illuminated the bone structure of her arm. There was a foreign object on her wrist, just like they believed.

Pressing a few buttons, the screen changed again to show a more detailed scan, but it still didn't show specifically what it was. He kept working, changing the screen often to try to scan the object. Several times he even changed the programming to break through whatever was cloaking the device from view. Finally, they could get a clear picture of what was connected to her.

"That is a tracking device." The man said. "It transmits her location constantly."

"We thought as much." Meric stated leaning down and looking at the scan. "How do we get rid of it?"

"We can't." He said while deactivating the screen. "It's basically welded to her bones, and by the looks of it, any chance of removing it could set of an explosion the size of a Thermal Detonator. Even removing the limb could cause it to go off before anyone could get to safety."

"Then how do we deactivate it?" Trisk asked.

The technician thought for a bit. "It would have to have the circuits overloaded. That way the bomb wouldn't go off, and it would stop transmitting a location. But it would have to be a very powerful electrical shock. I'm not certain she would survive."

She sighed. "Thrawn really wanted to make sure he didn't lose me, huh?"

Her husband was silent for a moment. "But if he knew your location this whole time, why didn't he try to recapture you when you were on Mandalore? He had plenty of opportunities to take you back again. So, why hasn't he?"

"You're saying..." Trisk wondered.

"I'm saying he's using us to find Rebels or anyone who would be considered an enemy of the Empire. The smugglers, the rogue troopers, everything else we helped with, he was there to undo our work." Meric concluded. "Whether you wanted to or not, he found a way to make you help him."

Trisk went ridged. She was furious.

Meric grabbed her hands. "Trisk, calm down. We just need to finish this battle, and you will be free of him. He'll come to Batonn next, so we can confront him here. If we stay here long enough, he can fall into our trap."

The Chiss let out a breath and nodded. They needed to prepare for his arrival.

Thrawn stood at the bridge of the Chimaera studying his latest assignment. Insurgence all across the Galaxy that he and several other were tasked with to end. It was becoming a bigger problem for the Empire and he needed to find a way to help the Empire to gain back control.

"Admiral Thrawn, Sir." An Officer caught his attention.

Thrawn looked up. "What is it?"

"You asked for an update on the Jedi's tracker. We found her on Batonn." He reported.

"Batonn." Thrawn confirmed and looked back at the assignment. "Batonn is one of the risk planets. Set course for the planet."

The Officer saluted and went to carry out the order. Walking over to a holoterminal, Thrawn made a call. Knowing this would be a bigger battle, he wanted to have someone to be able to fight a Jedi if he needed it.

The call was answered and Thrawn began to speak. "I am in need of someone with your skills. Meet me on Batonn, you will be paid handsomely."

The figure nodded and the call ended quickly. Thrawn looked away and turned to watch as his ship went into hyperspace. One of his biggest achievements would be coming soon.


	27. Chapter 27

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 27

While on the surface of Batonn, Trisk stood alone in one of the rooms of the temporary home she and Meric had obtained. They waited for Thrawn, but they didn't know specifically how he would attack. With the help of the technical genius, they found that Batonn was a popular route for smugglers to pass through taking items to the Rebels. That was what he would probably focus on.

Trisk knew he would take time to find out what was happening and put together a strong tactical plan against them. She just needed to be ready to counter. She didn't know how, but she knew that she and Meric had to be wherever the battle was so they could fight.

But something else weighed on her mind. She had woken up to some depressing news. News she didn't expect, and didn't know how to tell her husband. She had let out a shaky sigh as she held in tears. A small knock alerted her to Meric's presence.

"What's wrong, cyare?" He asked while entering, wrapping his arms around her.

He rested his chin on her shoulder while he waited for her to respond. Her hands went up and grabbed his arms, squeezing them for support. He could tell she was hurting for some reason, and he wanted to be there for her for whatever it was.

Her voice returned. "I didn't know."

He turned his head slightly to look at her. "What?"

"I didn't know," she said again, biting her lip. "I guess all the stress and fighting with Thrawn made it so this happened, but the worse thing is that I didn't even know."

"Whoa, whoa," he said while pulling away and moving in front of her. His hands rested on her shoulders. "Slow down, what didn't you know, cyar'ika?"

"I miscarried." Her hand went and pressed one side of her face while tears began to stream down her cheek.

Meric felt his heart drop.

"I was pregnant." She said with self loathing in her voice. "I was carrying our child and didn't even know it until I had lost them. How could I do that to them?"

Her husband didn't hesitate to move closer and hug her. She needed the comfort. "Trisk, this isn't your fault."

"Maybe if I had known, I would have been better at making sure the child was safe." She said through sobs.

He ran his fingers through her hair. "Don't blame yourself. We don't know what could have happened. So many different things could have happened, and we couldn't control any of it. Though it is difficult, this might be a good thing. I wouldn't want you to fight during pregnancy because of the harm that can come to you and the child."

All he could hear was her shaky breathing. This was a difficult time for both of them. He held her close and simply let her calm down while he too mourned the loss of their child. They needed this time to grieve and come to peace. This day was one for sorrow.

Once night fell, they had spent the whole day together and comforting each other. Not much else happened that day. The next day they would go and find the smugglers to see what they could do to help, but otherwise that day was spent for family.

Meric stared at the back of his wife while she rested. Lying next to her, his arm rested over her waist, feeling the movement of her chest as she breathed. Much of the time the spent talking was reassuring her that the loss wasn't her fault, but at the same time, he had doubts about himself. Maybe their differences in species made it so she couldn't have children with him. Maybe the miscarriage happened because of that.

He let out a sigh and kissed her shoulder before sitting up and walking out of the room. He walked out of the building and let the cool air fill his lungs. He looked around the surrounding area, taking in the sight of the planet. He actually longed for the day that he and his wife could relax once again on Mandalore, safe from the war.

"I guess it's your turn to brood?" His wife's voice came from behind.

He turned around with a sad smile. "There is a difference from grieving and brooding."

"I know." She said.

She walked over and placed a hand around his waist while his went to her shoulder. "Today was difficult."

"It was," she confirmed.

They were silent for a moment.

"Meric," Trisk started. "This isn't your fault either. Like you said, many different things could have happened. And so, just like you are telling me to not blame myself, I'm telling you to not blame yourself."

He gave her another sad smile. "I know, I just wish I could have done something."

"I do too." She rested her head on his shoulder. "But it's true when you say that it may be for the better. I would not have been able to fight Thrawn if I carried a child."

He nodded. "We should probably go to sleep."

She gave a silent agreement.

"Cyare," he turned to look into her eyes. "Ni kar'taylir darasuum."

"I love you, too," she stated before giving him a strong hug.

He returned the embrace and then they walked back into the temporary home to rest. They needed all the strength they needed in case Thrawn came. After the long day they had, they both fell into a dreamless sleep.


	28. Chapter 28

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 28

After a month of preparations, Trisk and Meric waited in the Vanguard, along with a fleet of other ships, ready to face off with Thrawn. They had managed to find the smugglers, and convinced them that there was danger coming. Connected to one of the leading smuggler ships, they confirmed their plan, ready to fight back.

A beeping came from their console. Meric connected the call, and saw Thrawn through a hologram with his hands behind his back.

"Commander Thrawn." Trisk greeted coldly.

"It's Admiral, now," he corrected. "This is your final chance to surrender. Do so, and I can promise that you will all live."

"Not going to happen." The smuggler leader stated.

"Very well," Thrawn ended the transmission.

His large ship began to open fire on all of the surrounding ships. Forcing Meric and Trisk to act, they evaded the shots and began to travel towards their enemy. They needed to do some damage to the enemy. Several other ships joined them and began to fire on the large Imperial ship. Tie-Fighters began to filter out and a full on space battle took place.

Destruction filled the area, leaving floating debris in orbit above the planet of Batonn. Meric focused on piloting the ship where it needed to be while Trisk fired the weapons at attacking ships. They worked together, taking out many Tie-Fighters and leaving damage on the Command Ship.

"There's too many of them!" A voice came through the channel.

Another called out. "Keep going, we can beat them."

"Half of our fleet has been destroyed." Someone stated.

Trisk glanced at her husband, gaining a look of understanding. The silent communication had been confirmed. They were losing.

"Another wave is coming!" The intercom blared.

Taking sudden action, Meric moved the ship away from a barrage of fire that came from Thrawn's ship. A large amount of smuggler ships were destroyed in large explosions. There was a small lull in the fight as the smugglers saw they were out numbered and out gunned. They had no choice but to retreat.

"We can't retreat yet." Trisk began to prepare to attack again. "We are so close."

"Trisk," Meric reached over and grabbed her arms, halting her. "We stand no chance."

"If we can get on his ship, I can end this once and for all." She argued.

His grip tightened. "Or you will die before you could even get to the lift to the bridge. You almost died when you escaped him the last time. I'm not losing you that way."

"But..."

"We are retreating." He commanded taking control and flying away from the battle. "Better to live to fight another day then die a warriors death over impossible odds."

They blasted off into hyperspace.

"Orders, Sir." An Officer asked Thrawn.

Thrawn looked over the battle field. "Eliminate those who stay and fight. Let those who retreat live."

"Yes, Sir." The Officer confirmed.

Thrawn walked over to a display that showed the tracker for the Jedi. Seeing it wasn't a consistent blinking light, he knew that they had escaped and gone through hyperspace. He just needed to wait for them to stop, then he could send his hired help to finish the job.

Trisk's usefulness had come to an end for Thrawn, and he wanted to clean up any loose ends. He knew that his career would change after this day, and more important tasks would come up. He had no time to chase after her.

He called his hired help. "I am giving you the codes to track the Jedi and Mandalorian. They are in hyperspace right now, once they are stopped, go and finished the job. Bring me proof upon completion."

"Understood."

The call ended, and Thrawn turned to go to his office. He needed to fill out a report for the Emperor about the recent Battle of Batonn.

After a while of flying though hyperspace, Meric brought the Vanguard to a slower speed, stopping above a planet. He checked things over, and flew though the atmosphere to an uninhabited area, landing at the top of a large plateau.

His wife was angry, and wasn't talking much. He understood why. She was eager to finish the battle with Thrawn, and he was too. But that situation was one that would end with both of their deaths if they stayed.

Two years had passed since he stopped bounty hunting. Two years had passed since he married the Chiss woman. And in those two years, he and Trisk had constantly been trying to help those in need and fighting Thrawn. They needed a break.

Trisk had left the cock pit to go to the back of the ship and cool off, and Meric knew she needed some time. Sooner than he expected, the door opened, and he turned to look at his wife. She looked tired.

"I'm sorry." She started. "I wasn't thinking logically, and I took out my anger on you. It was unfair. Thank you for getting us to safety."

He gave her a crooked grin. "I understand why you were eager to take him out. Don't be too hard on yourself."

She let out a little laugh. "And I thought I was supposed to be the collected one between us."

"I do find that interesting that the Jedi had a burst of anger and I was the one to think clearly." Meric placed a hand on his chin. "Doesn't anger lead to the Dark Side?"

"Yes," she answered. "But I think that consistent anger and hatred at everything and everyone. I don't have those sort of feelings."

Meric reached out his hand, and she took it. He pulled her closer, causing her to sit down on his lap. He pressed a kiss to her cheek and hugged her.

"Where are we?" She asked.

"Tatooine."

A smile came to her face. "This is where our adventure really started."

"I don't know, you gave me quite an adventure on Voss, and all the planets between there and here." He teased.

"True," she responded. "But this is were we became friends and began traveling together."

His arms tightened around her slightly. "Have you ever thought about if I never found you? If I ever took that bounty? If we never started this adventure? Have you thought about where you would be now?"

She was silent for a moment. "I would either be on Voss or possibly dead. But I think back on it, and I wouldn't change a thing."

"You wouldn't change Order Sixty-Six?" He tilted his head.

She let out a sigh. "As terrible as that was, I don't think I would even change that, because that would mean a life without you. And I can't imagine my life without you in it."

"I would change one thing." Meric admitted.

"And what would that be?"

"I would have made sure you weren't alone on that ship with Thrawn." His eyes stared out to the desert.

"He would have killed you."

Meric shrugged. "Maybe, he might have taken me prisoner as well. I might have been able to help you escape so you didn't almost die."

"Or you would have died."

He let out a sigh. "We'll never know. But that week with you missing I felt the most helpless. And when I finally got you back, you were practically on death's door. I was scared that you would never open your eyes again."

She reached up and caressed his cheek. "But I did."

"Thank Mandalore you did."

He reached up and placed a hand on her cheek. Leaning forward his lips and hers pressed together in a tender kiss. For once in two years, they felt there was some peace in their lives. They didn't know how long it would last, but they enjoyed the time they had.


	29. Chapter 29

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 29

"So, are we just going to lay low around here for a while?" Trisk asked when she found Meric outside the ship a while later.

His arms were crossed. "I don't know how much that would help, considering the tracker in your arm, but maybe staying in one place for a bit can help us. Maybe Thrawn will be busy with something else and leave us alone for a while."

"I just wish we could remove this thing safely." Trisk stated, lifting her wrist.

Meric looked over to his wife. "I think only Thrawn has that capability."

"You think he would remove it if we ask nicely?" She raised her eyebrows.

"I think he would 'remove' it by shooting you," he said with little emotion.

She shrugged. "One could hope."

"I'm glad you still hold your sense of humor in this situation."

She let out a sigh. "Sometimes, humor is all that keeps someone sane in this psychotic galaxy."

Meric let out a laugh through his nose and reached over and placed his arm around his wife. Pulling her closer, they stared out to the horizon where the two suns of Tatooine began to set, causing a rainbow of reds and yellows to paint the sky. The moment of peace was welcomed.

But short lived. At a moment's notice, Trisk's eyes widened, and she pushed her husband away and turned sharply behind her. Lifting her hand, she managed to stop the bolt shot from a blaster that was aimed at her. The energy froze in the air and shook as it tried to continue further. Trisk stood motionless as she focused on the danger.

Meric stood back up after being pushed and placed a hand on his own blaster, ready to fight whoever was attacking them. They were expecting Thrawn to show himself, but were shocked to find a completely different person walking out from his hiding place. He had his rifle next to his torso as he prepared to fire again. Meric's eyes widened once he recognized the man.

Mandalorian like armor. It had several parts that were damaged and it looked well warn. Painted a marsh like green with slight accents of browns and reds decorated the armor. He lifted his rifle and took aim at Trisk.

"Boba Fett." Meric confirmed. "What are you doing here?"

"Completing a bounty." The bounty hunter stated, his eyes not leaving the Jedi.

Meric stepped in front of his wife, blocking Boba's shot. "To get to her, you will have to go through me."

Boba was silent, and didn't fire, yet. "My fight is not with you, Mandalorian."

"It is if it concerns my wife." Meric countered.

Boba's grip tightened on his blaster.

Trisk moved to the side and let the blaster fire pass her as she joined her husband's side. She grabbed the hilts of her sabers and held them ready to activate. Boba's rifle followed her, but Meric lifted his blaster and aimed it at the bounty hunter. Everyone was silent for a moment.

"You're not going to back down, are you?" Meric asked.

"I wouldn't be the Galaxy's Greatest Bounty Hunter if I did." Boba's voice came out monotone.

Silence followed. No body moved for a bit while they waited for the first action of attack. Taking a shot, Boba Fett fired at them. Trisk activated her lightsabers and blocked the shot before leaping into the air. The bounty hunter focused on her, but frequently had to dodge or block a shot from the Mandalorian.

Trisk slashed down towards Boba Fett, causing him to roll out of the way. He fired a shot at her, and she dodged the blast. Rolling away, she blocked a few more shots from him and jumped back. Hearing a beeping, she looked down and saw a Thermal Detonator following her.

She gasped and jumped back, using the Force to push herself up, trying to avoid the blast. The explosion pushed her further back and she hit her back against a rock formation. She slipped down and landed on her feet, letting out a groan.

Looking up, she saw that Meric was trying to protect her from Boba Fett by drawing his attention to him. She began to run towards the two, and she lifted her saber to attack. She jumped up once again and slashed down at the bounty hunter. He was able to move out of the way and activated his flamethrower. He aimed at Trisk, causing her to flip backwards out of the way.

Boba Fett fired several more shots at them, causing Trisk to take the defensive again. When she had the opportunity, she took her sabers and spun them around until she could connect them together, making the type of staff saber she used as a Temple Guard. She used this to block more of the bounty hunter's shots while Meric fought against him with his own fire. Boba Fett took one shot that hit the center of Trisk's staff and deflected off of the metal while breaking the sabers apart from each other.

Lifting his other gauntlet, he fired a wire towards Meric. Trisk reacted quickly and moved in front of him. The wire penetrated her skin and an electrical shock coursed through her body, causing her to go ridged.

Meric fired a blast at the gauntlet and caused it to explode, ending the electrical shock to Trisk. She fell to the ground, unconscious. Boba Fett let out a cry of pain and took his blaster and fired it at Meric. The shot caused Meric to pull back from his wife and move away. Taking another Thermal Detonator, Boba Fett threw it at Meric. Meric tried to dodge the blast, but he fell to the ground in pain, holding his right arm with his hand. The initial blast also threw Meric back and he hit another rock formation, falling to the ground.

Boba Fett walked over to Trisk and reached down and ripped off her Jedi Temple broach. He grabbed her arm and lifted her up. Before he could do anything else, the ground began to shake.

The whole battle caused parts of the plateau to become unstable, and the final explosion caused the formation to shake, and several places on the edge began to crumble. Large cracks began to form and surrounded where Trisk lay. Dropping her, Boba Fett activated his jet pack to fly to solid ground.

The ground broke and began to topple to the planet below. Meric reached over, but was unable to catch her before she fell with the broken rock. Meric crawled over to where his wife was and looked down below, where the formation impacted with the ground. He couldn't see her, and his heart fell to his gut. He didn't know if she could have survived that.

Boba Fett looked down where his target had been taken. If he wanted a body, he would have to find a way to dig her out of the rock. He had her broach, the only proof he really needed. He looked over at Meric. Walking behind him he placed his boot on his back and pushed him over the edge. He was done.


	30. Chapter 30

_Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. __(Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)_

Chapter 30

Meric's eyes opened after being unconscious. It was dark, and he found himself in a home of one of the residences of Tatooine. His body was sore, and he could tell there was a difference with him. Trying to sit up, he lost balance and fell back to the bed he was resting in. Shock came to his eyes as he realized the reason he fell back to the surface. The lower half of his right arm was gone.

"You must rest." An older man's voice told him. "You've been through quite a battle."

Meric let out a groan. "You? You're that hermit Trisk saw when we were last here on Tatooine."

The man didn't speak, and his expression didn't change either. Instead he simply began to apply Kolto to several of Meric's wounds.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked.

"I'm helping a friend." The old man responded.

Meric was confused. "What do you mean?"

"She never told you?"

"Trisk knows you?" Meric asked for clarity.

The man nodded. "She probably didn't tell you to try to keep me safe. Vader specifically would like to get his hands on me."

"Are you even a hermit?" Meric asked as he sat up a bit.

"It doesn't really matter what I am." He responded.

Meric was silent for a moment before he responded. "You found me. What about Trisk?"

"You need to rest for now." The man said before standing back up to leave.

Meric pushed himself up further. "Wait, you didn't answer my question?"

"You've been through a lot." He explained. "I will answer when you are well."

"At least tell me what I can call you."

The man looked away before giving a small smile to the Mandalorian. "Ben. They call me Ben."

Meric fell back into the bed, letting out a frustrated sigh. He didn't know if Trisk was alive or not. His mind thought to the worse, and his heart broke. Two things caught his eye before he relaxed any more. On a stand nearby him, he saw Trisk's sabers. One was well damaged and beyond repair, the other was completely broken in half. This gave little hope to him.

With tears stinging his eyes, he let his voice fill the area.

"Meh gar tengaanar ogir norac ni vaabir, shab'dinuir laam bat ni.

ni urcir gar banar ni bora adol;

ni shab' kar'taylir o'r haar kar'ta o'r haar kar'ta munit ni cuyir.

a' ni draar dinuir gar daab, cyar'ika parer bal haa'taylir.

bal acyk jii bal vencuyot, banar ni haa'taylir gar tug'yc,

ni cuyir kar'taylir o'r haar kar'ta darasuum gar.

kar'taylir o'r haar kar'ta o'r haar kar'ta o'r haar kar'ta,

kar'taylir o'r haar kar'ta o'r haar kar'ta darasuum, ni"

Several years passed, and on Mandalore, Meric lived a mostly quiet life. He continued his career in the military forces, staying closer to home. A lot of things had changed since Tatooine. He hadn't expected to have so much happen in his life. Originally, he had planned to live his life as a bounty hunter. He never knew he was going to fall in love with one of his targets, a Jedi at that. He didn't know he would stop bounty hunting and help those against the Empire.

But looking back, he didn't want to change anything. It lead him to where he was now, and he was happy. He was happy to be returning home once again. Once he landed, he walked to his house on Mandalore. He was happy to have some time off of his duties as a Mandalorian soldier.

He opened the door and walked into the abode. Pulling off his helmet, he placed it on the table before turning to another room. Pushing his hair back with his hand, his eyes scanned the area.

"Riduur?" He called. "I'm home."

"I'm in here." She called back.

Meric followed her voice into another room, where he saw his wife working on setting up a display of some sort. He leaned against the door and smiled at her while she straightened the art. Once she got it to where she wanted it, she stood up straight and turned to her husband.

"Welcome home, Meric." She smiled.

"I'm home, Trisk." He smiled.

She walked over and gave him a hug before turning to look at the room again. "What do you think?"

"I think it's fine." He stated. "And if anything, we can change it to be whatever they want it to be."

"I want to get it right." She stated.

He hugged her from behind. "We'll make some mistakes, but that's part of learning. We'll be fine."

"How was the battle?" She changed the topic and looked at him.

He shrugged. "Not nearly as bad as I expected. It didn't take long to overpower their forces. I have some time before I need to return to duty."

"Wish I could be there with you." She said while placing her hand on his robotic arm. "How's the arm?"

"Those upgrades you did really have helped." He responded holding it up while holding her hand. "I can tell how much pressure I'm using now, and it doesn't glitch on me anymore. I should have gone to you first about making this."

"That smuggler you went to really wasn't trustworthy." She said with a raised eyebrow.

He chuckled, holding their hands to the window as the light played through the space between. He hugged her tighter while she stared at her arm, examining the light scaring over her hand. She let out a sigh.

"Do you think we are safe from Thrawn?" She asked her husband.

"It's been several years since Boba Fett attacked us." He answered. "Besides, Ben said that you were able to direct most of his electrical attack to the tracker and disabled it. It's probably safe to remove now, if you want to."

"I don't know how we would remove it without making me lose my right hand." She smiled.

"That was low." He said in a teasing tone.

She laughed and looked back to their joined hands. "If you say were safe, then we're safe. Besides, I don't want to go against Master Kenobi's judgement."

Meric's eyes widened. "Master Kenobi?"

Trisk nodded.

"As in the General from the Clone Wars?" Meric asked.

Trisk nodded again.

He gaped for a bit. "I met him?"

"Yes." She blinked. "You aren't going to tell anyone about it are you?"

He cleared his throat. "No, I won't."

She smiled again. "Thank you."

"Why did you never tell me about him?" Meric asked, pulling away from his wife.

"Safety," she was blunt. "It's better that as few of people know where he is as possible. He was one of the last to remain after Order Sixty-Six. I don't know his reasons for going into exile. But I wanted to make sure the Empire wouldn't know where he was. He has a reason for this."

"Seems like a wise man." He agreed. "And he saved your life, I owe him that much."

She smiled and leaned forward and pressed her forehead to his. His hands rubbed against her arms and went down to rest on her waist. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her lips. She smiled against his lips and returned the affection.

After a moment, she let out a short gasp of pain and she pulled away. Meric looked at her and watched has her hand went to her abdomen. Though he didn't want to see her in pain, seeing this small moment brought him joy.

"We have a kicker." He said with a smile.

His hands went to her abdomen, rubbing her hands while they felt the moving life in her swollen belly. His smile broadened as he hugged her once more. His family was growing. And he was happy to know that there was peace for him and his family.

"What if they're a Force User?" Trisk asked while looking into his eyes.

Meric's robotic hand rubbed her belly. "I don't care. You can teach them to control their abilities and we will love them regardless."

"A happy ending?" She asked.

He shook his head. "Aay'han cin vhetin."

The End


End file.
